


La Double Vie d'Adrienne

by ItsNotYouItsMimi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adriennette, F/F, GAY GAY GAY, Ladrienne, Ladynoire, Marichat, NOT FOR THE WEAK OF GAY, but yes plenty of Adrienne and mari, closeted Adrienne, oh god I hope I'm not spoiling this for you all, plenty of gay, v gay, v v gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6699433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsNotYouItsMimi/pseuds/ItsNotYouItsMimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrienne is a closeted trans girl, forced by her father to masquerade as a boy just because that's what's written on her birth certificate. She hates it more than anything she's ever lived through, but when a kwami named Plagg enters her life, she seizes upon an opportunity to be known as a girl through her alter-ego, Chat Noire. With her new superhero partner, she feels the happiest she's ever been in her life... until she realizes she's falling in love with Ladybug.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two Out Of Three Is Good Enough For Now

Adrienne only wanted three things in the world: freedom, a friend, and for her father to stop being so goddamn transphobic.

Adrienne had said multiple times that she wasn't Adrien, she was a girl, and she wanted to be called Adrienne. Her father would not budge. This dispute had gone on for years, and the little freedom she had dwindled every time she argued with her father about this topic. She was a girl, that was all there was to it, even if that wasn't what it said on her birth certificate.

So she was forced to be called the wrong pronouns by everyone, including her father, and to be called by the wrong name. Sometimes Nathalie would use the right pronouns when Gabriel wasn't around, and would use the right name, but she was the only person. Every time someone used the wrong pronouns, which was the vast majority of the time, she felt a little more crushed, like part of her real identity was disappearing. It was the worst feeling she knew, and she had to struggle with it daily.

To make matters worse, if she were to attend school like she dreamed about doing, the entire school would still refer to her as "Adrien," because that was her model name. It didn't matter, though; at school, she might find everything she was looking for. Or, almost everything. Freedom and a friend. The third one might take a while. 

Nonetheless, two out of three was pretty good. Which was why she decided to sneak out of her house on the first day of school.

It didn't take long for Nathalie to find out. Adrienne only made it to the steps of the school before she was apprehended by the Gorilla and her father's assistant. 

"Adrien, non, s'il vous plait!" Nathalie ordered, her use of the male name deliberate. It was gross, but it gave a tone of 'I am not joking around.' "Your father will be furious!"

"Can't you call me by my real name?" Adrienne pleaded. "And I don't care about what my father thinks, it's what I want! It's all I want!" 

She was going to continue, but was interrupted by the cough of an old man. She dashed over to help him up, and then remembered Nathalie and the Gorilla waiting for her.

She walked back with a slump in her shoulders. "Can't I just go to school like every other kid?" Adrienne felt crushed again. "Please don't tell my father."

When she got back home, she turned on the TV in boredom, but stopped abruptly when she saw the foreign box sitting innocently on the coffee table in front of the couch. 

It was a black box, painted intricately with geometric red patterns, and accentuated with gold here and there. It was like nothing she had ever seen, and she could tell just by looking at it that it was entirely unique.

"What is this doing here?" she wondered aloud, and opened it. She was greeted with a blinding flash of green light, and when she opened her eyes, a strange fairy was hovering over the box. 

The creature yawned loudly. It had black cat ears, large green eyes with slits for pupils, and antennae-like extremities instead of whiskers and a tail.

"Oh, wow, like the genie of the lamp!" she remarked in awe.

"Is this edible?" the thing wondered, ignoring her comment and floating over to the foosball table. 

"No, don't eat that!"

It bit down on one of the players, then shook its head in disgust. "Not at all. Ooh, what about this?" Now referring to an arcade game. Adrienne snatched for it, but missed as the thing flew away again, having deemed that inedible as well. A wild goose-chase ensued until she clutched the fairy in her hand, finally having stopped its shenanigans.

"What are you?" she demanded.

"I'm a kwami," the kwami introduced itself. "My name is Plagg. I can give you magical powers. You get the power of destruction. Understand?"

She didn't. It was all going too fast, and she didn't know why any of this was happening.

"All right, do you have any food? I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Adrienne was about to answer when the TV began to shriek. She turned instantly to look at it: civilians were being attacked by a giant rock monster. She swiveled back to Plagg. "What do I do?"

"Say 'transform me,'" Plagg explained, "and then I'll-"

"Plagg, transform me!" Adrienne ordered, cutting him off.

"Wait, I didn't tell you everything yeeeeeeeeeet!" Plagg protested as he was vacuumed into the ring she put on. 

She could feel the black suit beginning to fit closely to her body, and an idea came over her. Hey, Plagg, she thought. Can you make my outfit more feminine?

Feminine, Plagg mused. Sure.

The transformation was complete. She turned to a nearby mirror and gasped in delight.

Standing on the other side of the mirror was Chat Noire, who had wild and very long blonde hair, extending down to her chest and framing her face in its thickness. The padding of the suit both accentuated curves that Adrienne didn't have (or rather, wasn't supposed to have), and also offered more protection from any falls she was liable to take. The boots were elegant and stylish, offering plenty of tread and very comfortable (read: no 3-inch heels), but they were also definitely feminine. She looked closer: even her eyelashes were slightly elongated. She laughed giddily, ecstatic to finally be able to express her gender identity properly.

Like that? Plagg's voice echoed in her mind. 

Exactly like this, Adrienne thought back. Thank you so much.

She opened her window, closed it behind her, and leapt out, dashing to practice using her new powers.

She had just gotten the hang of walking on her staff between the rooftops, when she realized that someone was screaming. And they sounded like they were getting closer. 

She looked up in time to see a blur of red and black speeding towards her and crashing into her. She was tied up against this person and swinging with them, suspended from her staff, before she even registered what had happened.

"I'm so sorry," the person's voice squeaked, "I'm so clumsy..."

Chatte Noire, through some feat of luck, managed to untie herself and land on the ground. "Don't worry about it, I'm glad you decided to drop by. I'm..." she grinned at the pleasure of finally being able to be called what she liked. "Chat Noire." She cocked her head for a moment, listening to Plagg's brief mental explanation. "You must be my partner, right? And what might your name be?"

"Ma-" The girl attempted to detach her yo-yo from Chat Noire's staff, but managed only to hit her on the head. "Maladroit... I'm so very maladroit."

"It's okay, Miss Maladroit," Chat Noire reassured, "I-"

BOOM. They both started and jerked towards the noise, which seemed to be coming from the Princess Stadium. Chat Noire's eyes gleamed. Here was her chance to truly exhibit her skills and to flaunt her freedom. She leapt up onto the nearby roof, incredibly lithe and agile: the striking image of a cat. 

"Hey, where are you going?" the girl called desperately.

"To save Paris, right?" She turned back to the direction of the stadium and bounded away on all fours.

She wasn't aware of the girl following her, but when she arrived at the stadium to fight the monster, the ladybug girl was standing at the edge of the stadium, looking very nervous and frightened. 

Chat Noire looked up at the huge rock monster, silently willing the boy she stood next to to go away. He complied, thankfully, so maybe her mental telepathy was secretly pretty good. She put the metal baton on her shoulders, in a manner that suggested an air of cocky swagger. "Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"No one's big enough," the Akumatized creature answered, and swept an enormous hand towards Chat to swat her out of the way. She dodged and swung her baton making a satisfying CLANG on contact. The monster roared and glowed, rumbling and becoming considerably larger.

"I could use some help, Mademoiselle Partenaire!" she called up to the ladybug girl, who was still frozen in fear at the edge of the stadium.

She didn't get much more stalling in before the huge monster clenched her up in his hand, squeezing her too tightly for any hope of escape whatsoever. She struggled, but knew there was no squeezing out of this one.

"Any day now!" she called again.

Before she knew what was happening, the ladybug girl had caused her release from the grip of the stone monster. She landed with an undignified THUD on the grass, next to the girl herself.

"Thanks," she panted, brushing herself off. "Any idea what to do now?"

"Well- I mean, we have to capture the Akuma, but otherwise-"

"Well, looks like I'll have to resort to my powers. Cataclysm!" She caught the crackling ball of energy and regarded her hand with interest. "Look, I can destroy anything I touch."

"B-be careful with that," the other girl gasped. 

"I will," Chat said with nonchalance. "Hey, Rockhead!"

The great hulking creature turned, a sneering expression on its face. "What is it, alley cat?"

"D-don't hurt him!" the ladybug girl pleaded. "If you use your Cataclysm on him, you might... you might kill him," her voice wavered, and finally gave out.

"Don't worry, Princess." Chat didn't know where it came from; the pet name just popped out of her mouth. "I'm not going to touch him." She wiggled her fingers. "This is pretty cool, though."

"Wh-what are you going to do with it?"

Chat Noire stopped. She had utterly no idea. "Um..." She lowered her hand and pondered this for a moment.

"Fine, I'll help. Lucky Charm!" The red-suited girl tossed her yo-yo in the sky, and a weird... body-shaped balloon sort of thing was formed.

"That's very useful," Chat Noire said sarcastically. 

"It is!" she protested. "I just... have to figure out how to use it."

"Right. Great." Chat struck a stance. "My turn, then, while you figure out how to use it." She charged the monster. "Take this, you-"

The monster grunted with disinterest and picked up a soccer goal, hurling it with immense power towards a girl who was filming with rapt excitement by the entrance to the stadium. Chat gasped and managed to intercept the goal, crumbling it to dust beneath her fingers. While she was distracted, the rock monster swept her up again in its enormous fist. She kicked and struggled again. "Hey! Let me go, you ugly-" 

She managed to get a glimpse of red, as the girl leapt into the monster's other hand. Chat only heard "Now, Alya!" and she vaguely wondered how the ladybug girl knew the other girl's name. They had never been introduced.

She was dropped to the ground again, much to her relief. She surveyed the scene, trying to piece it all together. It didn't seem to fit at all, but she realized that Ladybug had single-handedly released her from its grasp and released the Akuma.

She watched it fly away, then realized her ring was blinking persistently.

"You have to go, Chat Noire," the ladybug girl reminded, tapping the ring.

Adrienne felt a rush of happiness at being called her name of choice. "It was a pleasure, My Lady!" She bowed. Again, she didn't know where this flirtatious behavior came from, but she rather liked the sound of the pet name. She was about to leap away, but she heard the other girl- Alya- talking and stopped for a moment.

"Ladybug," Ladybug decided, answering a question that Chat didn't hear. "Appelle-moi Ladybug." She reached for her yo-yo and swing away. Chatte followed suit, but vaulted away with her baton in the opposite direction. 

Chat Noire's brain was pretty fried once she got home. She transformed back into Adrienne and collapsed onto her couch in exhaustion. So much had happened, so quickly. As she tried to review the day's events in her head, she realized two things: one, she finally had freedom, and two, she finally had a friend.

And after all, two out of three was pretty good.


	2. This Is Not What I Want; This Is Not What I Planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy I spent my whole weekend writing this for you all bc I LOVE you •,~
> 
> please help I'm dying I've never written so much in one chapter (it's only 4,000 words but I tend to write a lot shorter than other authors)

The very next day, Adrienne managed to sneak out again with the help of Plagg and get back to Francois-Dupont. She somehow managed to avoid Nathalie and get into the class.

When she arrived inside, she only got to survey the scene a little bit before Chloe slammed into her.

"Adrien, you're here!" Chloe squealed in delight. Adrienne struggled to break free. She absolutely hated this embrace. It had taken all her willpower not to cringe at the name "Adrien," and her dislike of physical contact only heightened her disgust.

She managed to pry Chloe off. "Hey, yeah, nice to see you," she lied. Oh, god, why did the only middle school she know have Chloe enrolled in it? It was too late now, but she really didn't want to associate much more with Chloe. The girl was downright unpleasant.

A murmur of gossip swelled among the students. Hey, is that the famous model Adrien Agreste? Some students she could tell were thinking things like Oh my god, he's even hotter in person. Others were outright saying it to their friends. She swallowed that sick feeling she got when referred to as "Adrien" and walked, Chloe on her side, to class.

Numerous people asked for her autograph. She complied, but used a special messy signature with a little flourish at the end, making it look like her birth name at first glance, but which could also be read as her preferred name. No one noticed. She smiled internally.

"So this is your seat, Adrichou," Chloe cooed obnoxiously. "It's right in front of me! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah," Adrienne said through gritted teeth. "Fantastic." She didn't think she could spend and entire school year being right in front of Chloe, but she slid into the indicated seat anyway and extended a hand to the boy sitting next to her. "Hey," she said, not introducing herself.

"So you're a friend of Chloe?" the boy said with disinterest.

"What?" she asked in confusion. She was clearly not. Could he not see the uncomfortable expression on her face whenever Chloe was near?

She heard giggling and turned around. Chloe and Sabrina were sticking a piece of gum to the seats adjacent to her own. She stood up. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, the girls who sat here yesterday were rude to me," Chloe said dismissively. "So I'm paying them back."

"That's low," she accused, angry at Chloe's utter and complete lack of empathy or human emotion.

"You have so much to learn, Adrichou," Chloe giggled, not caring at all.

She sighed and decided to take matters into her own hands, trying to get the gum off the seat. It was pretty disgusting, but then again, she was used to being disgusted. "Ew." She touched it, reluctant to pry it off.

"And what might you being doing?" a familiar voice sounded suddenly. Adrienne was instantly alerted, and looked up in fear.

She didn't know this person, and her brain struggled to connect where that voice was from and who this person was. Nothing could be formulated. She bit her lip.

"Um, I-"

Chloe and Sabrina started giggling raucously again. The new girl's expression shifted into something less shocked and angry, and developed more of an air of Oh-I-see-what's-going-on-here. "I get it, very funny, you three."

"No, I swear I wasn't-" Adrienne began, but was cut off by the girl and watched, feeling a deep guilt, as she placed a paper towel over the gum and sat a good few inches away from it. Adrienne sighed with disheartened resign and sat in front of Chloe again.

The boy next to her turned. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Adrienne was prepared to explain that it had been this way for years, and she kind of couldn't stick up for herself in front of Chloe, but she realized that wasn't it at all. She wasn't scared to give Chloe credit where credit was due. She realized that she just was too scared by the other girl to properly defend herself.

Well, scared wasn't the right word. While the black-haired girl was certainly not spitting sunshine and rainbows right now, she wasn't scary. Intimidating wasn't the right word, either. She admitted, "I didn't want to get on her bad side."

Whether that was because she didn't want to be in the path of this girl angry or because she wanted to be her friend, Adrienne wasn't sure. She wasn't given much more time to ponder it, because the roll call began at that moment.

"Agreste, Adrien."

Adrienne was so caught up in thinking about that black-haired girl, and had forgotten in the heat of the moment what her birth name was, that she required a prod from the boy next to her. "Say 'present.'"

She started, and realized that Mademoiselle Bustier at the front was calling her name. No, not her name. The name she was given.

She hated that phrase too. The name she was given. She didn't want that name. It was like being given a sack of moldy potatoes and being told here, carry this around for the rest of your life. That sack would cut into her shoulder the longer she carried it and make it bleed, scratching against her in a skin-irritating manner. She had to lug that sack around for what seemed like an indefinite amount of time. It pushed her shoulders down with the strain of carrying it, and she was forced to bear it in silence. No one was allowed to carry her sack for her. She couldn't even complain about it.

It wasn't like the name Adrien was a gross name. She just didn't want it.

Maybe somewhere, someone would love that sack of potatoes. Someone might be able to use them for something, or at the very least someone might find the pain more bearable. Apparently Adrienne had an instinctual dislike for potatoes.

"Present!" she called, louder than necessary, to make up for the time she had spent forgetting to answer.

"Bourgeois, Chloe."

"Present," Chloe smirked, with an evident superiority complex.

"Bruel, Ivan."

The giant rock monster from yesterday broke through the door with a thundering CRASH. "Present," it bellowed. "Myyyy-leeeeeeeeene!" It snatched a rather stocky girl in its enormous hand and stomped, each footstep echoing in its din, through the classroom. Most of the students screamed and cowered under the desks, but Adrienne noticed the blue-eyed girl from earlier, still sitting upright and developing an expression of ready-to-kick-butt. Adrienne admired that, but didn't get much more chance to, because the rock monster (someone called it Cœur de Pierre?) stopped near her and scooped up Chloe.

"Ah!" Chloe shrieked. "Put me down! My father is the mayor!"

While Adrienne didn't see how that had anything to do with the situation, she realized that she needed to transform, and transform now. She dashed into the girls' bathrooms, noticed by no one in the panic.

Before she ordered Plagg out, she stopped to savor the moment a little bit. She was, for the first time she could remember, in the right bathroom! She might never get to do this again.

Although, if all Akuma attacks caused such mass panic like this, she might be able to do it a lot more often.

"Psst. Plagg." She poked the kwami gently. "Why is that monster back? Didn't Ladybug free it or something?"

"Did she capture it?" Plagg piped back. "She has to capture the Akuma, or it can multiply itself."

Adrienne recalled the fight. Not once had Ladybug so much as touched that black-mottled butterfly. "Oh."

"There you have it," Plagg yawned, making it evident that he was disinterested.

"Plagg, transform me!"

She felt the satisfaction of the transformation course through her. Being in suit felt so... right, in a strange and alien way. She never felt as ecstatic as when she was Chat Noire, she realized, and this was merely her second time. To be generally recognized as a girl was the most refreshing and heart-calming thing she had ever experienced; and fighting by Ladybug's side was the most exciting. She could tell that Chat Noire marked a big turnaround point in her life.

She pressed her nose against the bathroom window. Cœurs des Pierres were coming to life, one by one, throughout the streets of Paris, and were marching towards the source. Ivan himself (that was his name, right?) was not far outside the school, walking with the other monsters. The only way she could distinguish him from the others was his cargo (Chloe and Mylene); otherwise, they were all identical.

Chat Noire busted open the bathroom door. As usual, no one noticed. She dashed through the hall corridors and out the door, racing after the army of Cœurs des Pierres. She could hear Chloe whining from even this distance.

"...and the cavalry!" Chloe complained. "My father will hear about this!"

"Don't forget the superheroes!" Chat shouted triumphantly, swinging her baton to connect with the cold rock body of Ivan. He groaned and nearly doubled in size, shaking and rattling, glowing with green light. He rounded on Chat Noire, who gulped.

"Aargh!" Cœur de Pierre threw a car at her, which she dodged, but which nearly hit that other girl... Alya?

Chat reacted as quickly as she could and hurled her baton, which acted as a temporarily protection between Alya and the car. However, she was so preoccupied that she didn't notice another Cœur de Pierre was behind her until she was encased in its granite palm.

"Hey, how dare you-" she yelled, kicking at nothing, trying to (futilely) escape.

She was blanketed in darkness for what felt like forever, with only the pounding beat of the monster's footsteps to keep her company. It shook the earth and sent shivers through her body. These things were massive, and too powerful for their own good.

Finally, she heard Ladybug's voice, yelling, "Chat Noire, extend your baton!"

She instinctively reached upwards to catch the metal stick, expanding it upon contact. She broke free of the monster's hand, collapsed to the ground, and before she even registered it, she was hanging up-side down, suspended by a lamppost and Ladybug's yo-yo.

Seeing Ladybug like this, even upside-down, made Chat tingle with delight. She was so beautiful in the sunshine.

Damn. Those eyes were... they were sparkling, cascading waterfalls of laughing blue. Chat Noire had never seen anything like them. Her jet-black hair reminded Chat of a thick stroke of ink on a faintly yellowed page, like calligraphy of some kind. A warm feeling was sparking in Chat Noire's chest, growing and spreading through her entire body, warming her head to toe. Or more like ears to claws. The feeling was entirely alien, but she enjoyed it immensely.

"Sorry for the delay," Ladybug said, and a chill ran through Chat because she knew that voice. Well, of course she knew it, she had met Ladybug before, but she knew the person who had that voice also in real life. She just couldn't place exactly who.

"My Lady, have I told you how much you knock me off my feet?" Chat flirted with a wink. Damn. She didn't normally act so outgoing and ridiculous. What was it about Ladybug that evoked this behavior? Or was it the cat suit? Did being Chat Noire give Adrienne a boost of confidence? What a strange concept.

"Oh, so you're the joker type, aren't you?" Ladybug teased, and Chat realized that Ladybug didn't take her advances seriously at all. Good, because she didn't mean anything by them... right? She found it harder and harder to convince herself it was true.

A Cœur de Pierre lunged for her, and Ladybug hoisted her away using the yo-yo. "Up here, Chat!"

They ran across rooftops, vaulting over gaps where there were streets, and eventually landed on the Trocadero.

"Aren't you worried about the other Cœurs des Pierres?" Chat asked, stretching.

"No," Ladybug answered, with conviction. "The only one we have to focus on is that one." She pointed to Ivan, who was already on the Eiffel Tower, Mylene and Chloe in tow.

She had really become confident recently. It was as though she was an entirely different person from the petrified girl she had been when Chat had first met her. That clumsy, shy girl who had accidentally tied them together with her yo-yo by crashing into Chat had seemingly completely disappeared, and was replaced with this model of kick-ass awesomeness. That warm tingly feeling was back, lighting up in Chat's eyes and warming her to the bone.

The moment ended abruptly as Ladybug turned away again and swung her way to the Eiffel Tower. "Come on, I think he's about to do something really-"

"My Lady!" Chat gasped, pointing. Ivan was hurling Chloe to the ground with immense force.

Ladybug accelerated, running faster than humanly possible, and catching Chloe in the nick of time. Chat didn't hear the short exchange they had, but she did hear the police sheriff's command to attack the monster loud and clear. She opened her mouth to protest, but Ladybug beat her to it.

"Don't, you'll only make things worse!" Ladybug implored, but the sheriff shook his head.

"We don't need superheroes!" he spat. "Leave it to the professionals. You've already failed!"

Chat couldn't see Ladybug's face, but the slump in her shoulders told her enough. Ladybug turned, her expression reading as equally desolate.

"He's right, you know," Ladybug sighed. "If I had just captured Cœur de Pierre's Akuma, this would have already been over. I'm a horrible superheroine." She buried her face in her hands.

All traces of bravado and confidence had fled from her, leaving her a miserable, broken-hearted girl. And as her heart broke, so did Chat's. The new and delightful feeling that had been coursing through her all afternoon was shrinking, freezing into sadness and pity. She did the only thing she could think of: comforting Ladybug.

"That's not true," Chat Noire insisted, placing a hand on Ladybug's shoulders. "He's lying to you. If you hadn't saved this girl's life like that, she wouldn't be here, don't you see? You're super important. And without you, without me, they're helpless against those Cœurs des Pierres, and we'll prove it to them." She placed the other hand on the corresponding shoulder. "Okay?"

Ladybug stared into Chat's soft green eyes for a few moments, seemingly dumbstruck, before blinking and smiling again. "Okay."

Before either of them could say anything else, Cœur de Pierre started coughing very loudly, and very heavily. He finally heaved a swarm of black butterflies from his mouth, which took form in the shape of a man's head. Cœur de Pierre fell backwards onto the deck.

The butterfly head started speaking. This was just getting into weird territory. It introduced itself as the Papillon-- not surprising, since his image was projected in literal butterflies.

The head went on to explain that all this suffering was Ladybug's and Chat Noire's fault, and they could end it if they just handed over their Miraculouses.

A snarl rose in Chat's throat, a hostile rumble accompanied by the clenching of her fists. She was prepared to scratch Papillon into pieces, and do whatever it took to protect her Lady, but the lady in question was one step ahead (literally).

"Nice try, Papillon," she scoffed, walking forward and clapping slowly. "Don't reverse the roles, you're the real supervillain here. You're the one who's turned these innocent people into monsters of stone and rock. Papillon," she continued, advancing now with a gait of confidence and determination. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, but we'll find you. And it'll be you to give us your Miraculous!"

She broke into a run now, twirling her yo-yo wildly and then leaping high up in the air. "I'm freeing you from evil!" she declared, slicing through the formation of butterflies with grace and power. After a complex and muy impresionante sequence of moves, the mirage broke with a ripple through the air. Ladybug landed, somehow still keeping that impressive  
ostentation. She tapped the yo-yo and thrust it above her head, spreading a second ripple throughout Paris that shone with light and positivity.

The cheering could be heard all over Paris, but Chat Noire heard none of it. Her eyes were fixed upon Ladybug. Her mind replayed those words over and over, in that sweet voice that had a timbre like a flute. She was immobilized, stopped dead in her tracks from the sheer magnificence her partner had and exhibited. The warm feeling was back, creeping up to her face and flushing her cheeks a rosy pink. It was so soft and pleasant, yet at the same time so electric and thrilling.

In fact, the feeling didn't go away for a very long time. She didn't remember the rest of the fight at all. Her mind was completely and utterly devoted to Ladybug the rest of the day, and it took mass concentration to think of anything else.

She vaguely remembered feeling a bigger sense of accomplishment than ever before at the end of the fight, but the rest was a blur. She was sure not even her father could spoil her good mood, which was definitely a first.

She was wrong.

Not 24 hours later, as she was being driven to Francois-Dupont again, she realized that Nathalie had driven her there, which meant her father had ordained it. And that meant that he was planning something.

She turned her attention to the call screen of the car, where as expected, her father's face was being displayed.

"Do you see this school, Adrien?"

She swallowed a correction and gazed out at the school. "Yes, I see it."

"Well, never, and I mean never again, will you go here..."

"Father, no!" she begged. She actually had a chance of making new friends here, and of maybe telling someone her secret. Well, one of them. Chat Noire was going to have to stay a secret forever.

"...without following a few simple guidelines."

She swallowed and waited for him to list them patiently.

"Number one, you will be called by Adrien here. No complaining. I don't want anyone calling you that other name, it's ridiculous and-"

"Yes, Father, I understand," she said tiredly. She was not in the mood for hearing about how she was making things up and she just wanted attention and blah blah blah.

"And if you deviate from your schedule without prior notice, it is grounds for a few day's suspension. Are we clear?"

It was not ideal, but better by far than nothing. "Yes, Father."

"And, Adrien-"

She suppressed a shudder.

"-if I hear of anyone calling you by that other name, you will be taken out of this school immediately. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Father," she said doggedly, for the third time.

"Very well. Go to class. You wouldn't want to be late for the third day of school."

"No, I wouldn't." She slung her bag over her shoulder and opened the car door, but paused before exiting.

"Thanks, Father," she whispered, so softly she wasn't even sure he could hear it, and then proceeded on into the school, taking her pre-given seat next to that boy. She thought she heard that his name was Nino. She went to greet the black-haired girl, who was now sitting behind her, but got only a cold shoulder. Adrienne stared at the wood of the desk. This girl could have been a friend.

"Hey, you who didn't want to get on Marinette's bad side, why don't you talk to her?" Nino pressed. He really seemed to want to help Adrienne, which she appreciated.

She also appreciated finally knowing this girl's name: Marinette. The one who raises.

"I'm too scared," Adrienne confessed. "What would I even say?"

"Tell her the truth," Nino advised, perhaps more sagely than he realized.

So later that day, after her first full day of classes, she went outside to talk with Marinette. The rain was hammering against the earth, and Marinette didn't even have an umbrella.

"Hey," Adrienne began, and when Marinette turned away, she opened her umbrella and moved down the stairs a little.

"I just wanted to tell you..." Yes. Good. Keep going, you can do this, Adrienne. "I was trying to get the gum off your seat. It's true, I swear."

When Marinette still didn't respond, she continued anyway, trying to justify herself. Why she was so eager to please this girl, Adrienne had no idea; she only knew that she wanted Marinette to know that she had only been trying to help.

"I never went to school before," she confessed. "I never had any friends. All this, for me, it's..." She struggled for the right word. "It's a little new."

And then she held the umbrella out for Marinette, and her heart was pumping fast, beating against her ribcage, thudding into her skin with the adrenaline (or adriennealine... no? no one? okay).

Marinette's eyes flickered up to meet Adrienne's; cobalt blue against vibrant green. She seemed reluctant to move, until thunder began to rumble in the distance. Her hand slowly moved to meet Adrienne's, and their fingers touched once before Adrienne released the umbrella and Marinette took hold of the handle.

She just held it like that for a few moments, unsure of what to do, when the umbrella shut without warning and she was encased in black nylon.

Adrienne couldn't help it. She felt a laugh bubbling in her throat and this one time, she couldn't repress it. She laughed, harder than she could ever remember having laughed. The feeling was like being liberated from a leaden yoke that had been thrust upon her shoulders for years upon years. After a few moments of embarrassment, Marinette joined it, her little giggle like a chorus of birds chirping in harmony.

Adrienne finally got a hold of herself and managed to say, "See you tomorrow, then," leaving Marinette be with the umbrella.

She didn't hear Marinette's flustered stuttering as she walked down the steps, but she was stopped by Plagg when he popped out of her jacket. "It's your first day of school and you already have a girlfriend!" Plagg laughed.

"She's not a girlfriend," Adrienne said straight away, though she wasn't sure exactly what made her so averse to the idea. "She's just a friend." She realized that this made Marinette her first real friend at the school, and repeated in awe, "A friend!" before opening the door and stepping into the car.

As she mulled over the day's events, she realized that she really didn't know why she disliked the idea of Marinette being her girlfriend so much. Plagg had said it as a joke, of course, but why wouldn't she entertain it even for a second? Marinette was pretty freakin' hot, not to mention brave, righteous, and kind, as far as she could tell. The only logical explanation was that her heart belonged to someone else, but who could possibly-

Adrienne's brain froze in its tracks. Ladybug. Oh, god, had she fallen for Ladybug and not even noticed? Was that warm, electrifying, intoxicating feeling she kept experiencing around Ladybug... love?

No. No, no, no. No, no, no, no. No no no no no no nonononono no! No! she screamed internally.

No matter how much she tried to get that vision of sleek silky raven-black hair out of her mind, and to stop thinking about those celestial azure eyes, she realized that she was completely infatuated with Ladybug. She couldn't shake those soft pink lips from the front of her mind, and she couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted to-

No, no, she didn't want to kiss Ladybug, did she? Of course not. No. Not ever. Not even in her dreams. Even the notion was ridiculous. She didn't want to kiss Ladybug. Not at all.

She totally wanted to kiss Ladybug.

Oh, no, she groaned mentally.

I'm so incredibly screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so basically;; this (and chapter one) were/was just origins rewritten from adrienne's point of view and with a few little tweaks here and there 
> 
> this was so painful to write (like it's basically already been written in canon but there were a few details that were really really important so I'm not sure whether rewriting all of origins was worth it for just a few edits now and then but it's too late now)
> 
> i PROMISE the next chapters won't just be all the episodes written again with trans!Adrienne, they'll be their own things with their own events, I just needed to establish some stuff from origins that might not have made sense in this au
> 
> p.s. I drew a secret scene here http://mimis-doodles.tumblr.com/post/143615029513/from-my-transadrienne-fic-la-double-vie-de on my doodling tumble blog if you want to check it out


	3. In Which Being Straight Would Have Solved A Lot Of Adrienne's Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hardcore Adriennette because my friend is a hardcore Adriennette shipper and I had to indulge her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow this got to be more than 6k words DAMN (it's actually longer than the first two chapters combined I'm not even kidding)

She couldn't look at Ladybug differently from that point on. 

Every time she saw her, her heart fluttered and beat a little faster. Chat Noire would scold it, knowing that she didn't stand a chance with Ladybug. Knowing that she was doomed to a fate of loving Ladybug and never having her feelings reciprocated. Ladybug saw her as nothing more than a partner, and she knew it.

Her heart, though, wouldn't accept this. A wink from Ladybug would cause her to hyperventilate. As much as a tap on the nose would char her brain, leaving her with nothing else to think of for the entire day and a severe case of distraction lasting the entire Akuma attack. She wasn't completely sure if Ladybug was aware just how much power she held. One of these days, Ladybug would jokingly kiss her on the hand and she'd faint.

It was one more secret to stress her out on top of being a girl and being Chat Noire: she was hopelessly, madly in love with Ladybug.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to be alone. The entire class was constantly abuzz with discussion of Paris's black-haired sweetheart. Alya had even created a special blog called the Ladyblog to keep up-to-date with the newest Ladybug sightings and discoveries.

Adrienne didn't know exactly how much the civilians and her classmates loved Ladybug until she accidentally joined a discussion about the lady herself during lunchtime. All the students were crowded around one picnic table, going over homework together, until Ayla brought up her newest updates.

"Guys, did you see this?" she asked excitedly, pulling up a page of the Ladyblog on her smartphone. "Ladybug waved at me yesterday! I can't believe it! We're practically best friends!"

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend," Marinette complained.

"You are, but come on, you're not a superhero," Alya scoffed. "There's no one in the world who's cooler than Ladybug."

"What about Chat Noire?" Rose protested. "She's wonderful, too!"

The class nodded and murmured in agreement. "She's really cute," Nathanael admitted, looking up from his drawings for once. 

Alya, being ever curious, looked over at his sketchbook. "You drew her! Aw, someone has a crush on Chat Noire!" 

"I don't have a crush on Chat Noire!" Nathanael protested, scooping his sketches to his chest. His cheeks were nearly as red as his hair. "I just think she's... nice."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "'Nice.'" 

"Fine, she's totally awesome!" he caved. "What else do you want? Have you seen her?" 

"Have you seen the way she looks at Ladybug?" Kim laughed.

Adrienne turned. "What about it?" She was genuinely curious. What about the way she looked at Ladybug made it worth noticing?

Alya giggled. "You mean you don't see it?" She tapped her phone screen a few times and showed the image to Adrienne. "Don't you think that looks like love?"

It was a photo of Chat Noire. Adrienne's breath caught in her throat. It was immediately apparent who she was looking at. Chat's eyes were soft and twinkled with wonder. Her posture was relaxed, like she had forgotten all else in the world. Her lips were curved up gently, into a half-smile that had naturally settled on her face without her having to think about it. Alya was right. The word that came to mind looking at this photo was love. 

"Well-" Adrienne's face was probably turning the same shade as Nathanael's. "Do you blame her? Ladybug's so... incredible."

The class nodded and murmured in agreement again.

"I still can't believe she saved Ivan and me like that," Mylene confessed. "It was so cool!"

"She saved me twice," Ivan added. "She's more than just cool."

"You guys sound like Kylo Ren from that SNL short," Nino snickered. "I heard that Ladybug has an eight-pack, that Ladybug is shredded."

"She probably is, though," Alix jumped in. "I mean, jumping around Paris like that must give her some serious muscle."

"Damn, you guys, are you all obsessed with Ladybug?" Alya marveled. "Okay, survey. Who has a crush on Ladybug?"

The entire class, except for Marinette, raised their hands, and then promptly started laughing some more. 

"Not exactly surprising," Juleka piped up quietly. 

"Marinette, what do you have against Ladybug?" Alya accused.

"I don't have anything against her!" Marinette stammered, her face horribly pink. "I- I just-"

"Don't find her attractive?" Max suggested.

"Dude, you need glasses or something," Nino chortled. 

"Wh- I just don't have a crush on her! Can we move on?" Marinette begged. 

"No!" half the class said in unison.

"What's wrong with Ladybug?" Alix pressed. "How can you not like her?"

"It's not that I don't like her, I just-" Marinette tried to speak, but was bombarded with outraged questions.

"She's so hot! How can you not like her?"

"I'm straight and even I wanna kiss her!"

Poor Marinette didn't stand a chance. The students just didn't see how it was possible not to love Ladybug. Marinette looked to the only person who wasn't calling her out and begged for help with her eyes.

Adrienne blinked, then spoke up over the crowd. "Okay, okay, new survey! Who here thinks Chat Noire is hot?"

Again, the entire class raised their hands. This time, Adrienne was the odd one out. They burst into raucous laughter again. 

"There's something wrong with you, dude," Nino said with a friendly shove. "Chat Noire is, like, almost hotter than Ladybug."

"I would kill for her hair," Sabrina whined. "It's so luscious and long."

"You two are meant to be," Alya said playfully, pushing Marinette closer to Adrienne. "You both have terrible eyesight."

If Marinette was red before, it was nothing compared to now. Adrienne had never see a person so flustered. She tugged on the little lock of hair left out of her pigtails and bit her lip, not looking up. 

Why was Marinette so embarrassed to be near Adrienne? What had she done wrong?

"Okay, challenge question!" Nino shouted. "Who's hotter?"

The entire class groaned. "Come on, man!" several kids complained. 

"Can we get back to homework now?" Marinette pleaded. "I seriously need to finish this..."

Her classmates grumbled, but obliged, having worn themselves out of professing their admiration of the new superheroes. Adrienne was immensely relieved. She gave a little smile to Marinette, who immediately looked down again.

Now she was seriously wondering. Why was Marinette so afraid of her? Did... did she know that Adrienne was a girl?

Of course, Adrienne hadn't worked especially hard to keep it a secret. She desperately wanted someone, anyone, to figure it out so she wouldn't have to break her promise to her father. Still, after only a few days, she found it a little hard to believe. It probably wasn't the case. 

A girl can dream, though. 

The bell rang and the students filed back into the building, some of them still arguing over who was hotter, Ladybug or Chat Noire. Marinette quickly joined Alya's side before reentering the school, only stealing glances every now and then of Adrienne.

Adrienne turned to Nino. "Do you know why Marinette is acting that way around me?"

"You mean you really don't know?" Nino asked in amazement. "It's so obvious!"

Adrienne was lost. "I- I just don't understand why she keeps avoiding me and why she's so nervous around me. Did- did I do something wrong? Do I scare her?" She was rambling now, trying to find some justification for Marinette's behavior, but just couldn't figure it out. It was like a puzzle that had pieces that wouldn't fit together no matter how many times she rotated them. Marinette's actions had her stumped.

"You're so blind, dude. It's no wonder you don't think Chat Noire is hot." Nino forged on ahead into the classroom, leaving Adrienne just as confused as she was before.

"Thanks," she mumbled sarcastically, following after a moment's pause. 

She didn't see much else of Marinette that day. Or anyone, for that matter, because an Akuma struck not much later and she had to transform and miss Geography.

Of all things, the Akuma caused blindness. Chat Noire nearly snorted from the irony of it all when she first arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, the Akuma was fast and powerful. She spent half the attack completely blind, and had to resort to Ladybug leading her around for most of the time.

"What's happening?" Chat demanded every four seconds. Ladybug would playfully decline to describe the scene. This happened to backfire immensely.

"I can't see anything," Chat Noire complained. "Are we on pavement?"

Ladybug didn't answer. Chat growled. "Would you stop teasing me so I can actually help?"

"I can do it on my own, Chat Noire," Ladybug reminded her, loosening the grip on her arm. 

"So could I, if I could see. Are these stairs?"

Once again, Ladybug remained silent. 

"Fine, I'll just- AUGH!"

Chat Noire tripped and fell onto Ladybug, pinning her to the ground and accidentally groping her in places that you weren't supposed to grope a girl. She yelped and removed her hands from Ladybug's chest, causing her lips to fall onto Ladybug's.

She felt heat rush to her cheeks, and she tried to roll over off of Ladybug to avoid adding any extra damage, but managed to fall down the stairs. As far as she could tell, Ladybug did nothing to stop her plight. She rolled onto the landing below with a groan, face burning with shame.

"Sorry," Ladybug called from the top of the stairs with a giggle. 

"Ah, yes, I can hear from the deeply saddened timbre of your voice that you are utterly devastated," Chat Noire said sarcastically, though there was sno real jibe behind the comment. 

"Stay there, minou, let me come and help you up." Chat heard footsteps descending towards her. "Grab my hand." 

She reached for the hand and allowed Ladybug to pull her up. Chat Noire dusted herself off. "You know, this all could've been avoided if you'd just told me we were going down stairs."

"Oops."

"You're not even sorry."

"I am!" 

"No, you're not."

"Your cheek is bleeding." Chat felt a gloved finger wiping at her cheek. 

"Kiss it better?" she suggested, suggestively.

A laugh followed. "Okay, kitty cat." Chat Noire felt a pair of lips smooch the wounded area, and she stopped dead in her flirting. 

Footsteps. Ladybug was continuing to sprint down the stairs, chasing after the Akuma. Chat Noire was still rooted to the spot. Her entire body felt like it was melting, oozing, collapsing into a pile of warm and mushy contentedness.

She had been right, she absolutely could not handle a kiss from Ladybug.

"Chat Noire? Are you coming?" Ladybug's voice was farther away now, probably down another flight of stairs or two.

"Yeah," she croaked, tracing her cheek. "Be right there."

"You're not even moving."

"Give me a second."

Ladybug laughed again. "Fine, I'll help you down." She ran back up the stairs and reached for Chat Noire's hand again, leading her carefully down.

Chat was actually pretty useless for the rest of the attack. It was less that she couldn't see and more that Ladybug had totally fried her metaphorical wires. The kiss hadn't even been on the lips, but it didn't matter. Ladybug had Chat Noire under her thumb. 

Nevertheless, she still managed to get her Lady back before the end of the whole ordeal. Prior to Ladybug leaving and detransforming, Chat Noire snuck in a smooch on Ladybug's forehead.

Having regained her sight, she took immense pleasure in seeing Ladybug's face redden as she processed what happened. The results weren't nearly as drastic as they had been for Chat, but her reaction was sufficient.

"You sick animal," Ladybug whispered, mimicking Chat Noire's movements a while ago and slapping a hand to her head.

"That's me. See you around, My Lady!" Chat Noire bounded away back towards Francois-Dupont. 

Happiness, and love, were no longer strange feelings to her. She was now used to the warm sensations that arose from her quippy banter with Ladybug, and from hanging out with her friends and generally enjoying herself. There was no doubt about it, Chat Noire and school had changed her life for the better. There was really only one thing that could totally seal the deal, but her father forbade it.

Then again, what did her father know?

Not how to be a good parent, that was for sure.

________________________________

It was a warm late fall afternoon, not long from winter. One of those warm days that are completely unprecedented and that no one ever expects despite it happening every year. The students naturally chose to capitalize on the nice weather by hanging out inside at their friends' house, because that's what teenagers do.

Marinette, having made a strong acquaintance with Alya, chose to invite her over to hang out, but Alya insisted on bringing Nino for "reasons," and Nino insisted on bringing Adrienne. It wasn't exactly what one might call "shocking." The foursome agreed to meet at Marinette's house at 5 and to stay for dinner, though all were secretly hoping for a sleepover.

In the three-ish months that Adrienne had come to know Marinette, not a whole lot of her perception of her had changed. She learned that Marinette was an aspiring fashion designer, and that she loved to draw and sew, and that she lived in a bakery with her parents. Not much else. She still had no idea why Marinette was seemingly incapable of forming complete sentences around her. 

So when she was invited by extension to the girl's house... she didn't know how Marinette would react.

Surprisingly, she seemed to love having Adrienne over. When she first opened the door to greet her friends, the poor girl was a wreck of nerves, stumbling over every consonant. As the night progressed, she seemed to get more and more comfortable, though.

The idea of doing homework and being productive lasted about 5 seconds. Instead, they all played video games and ate too many croissants to count. Marinette had gracefully declined from any rounds of Mecha Strike III (especially those against Adrienne, weirdly enough), so the girl herself smashed Alya and Nino multiple times, over and over, until they got bored of losing.

"I've got an idea!" Alya shouted, after being obliterated by Adrienne for the fifth time. "Let's all play Spin the Bottle."

"Alya, nothing good ever comes out of that game," Marinette whined. "Plus, what if-" She finished the sentence as a whisper to Alya, so that neither Adrienne nor Nino could hear.

"All the better," Alya snickered. "You know you want to."

Marinette blanched. "I do not!"

"Do too."

"I'd die. I'd die, Alya."

"You would die, but not because you didn't want to k-"

Marinette clamped a hand over her friend's mouth before the rest of the sentence could be voiced.

"Just do it, Marinette!" Alya urged, after the hand had been removed. "Here, I've got an idea. Let's up the ante." She got up and left the room. When she returned, she was holding a piece of chalk. 

"Wh-what's that for?" Marinette squeaked.

Alya drew a circle on the floor of Marinette's room, then split it into quarters. She dropped the chalk and regarded it with satisfaction. "Look, each of you is at the end of one of the lines."

She was right. Each teen was at one of the points where the dividing lines touched the edge of the circle, making each line correspond to a person.

"Here's my version. If you spin the bottle and it doesn't land on a line, you're home free. Nothing happens."

Marinette visibly deflated with relief.

"But," Alya continued, "if you land on a line, you have to make out, for a decent amount of time, with the person it's pointing to. Deal?"

"No!" Marinette shot back immediately, quaking. She was hugging her knees now.

"You're so lame," Alya sighed. "Okay, majority rules. Who wants to play?"

Nino and Alya raised their hands, then high-fived upon seeing the other. They both looked imploringly at Adrienne.

"Come on, dude," Nino coaxed. "You might get some serious game."

"Yeah, or I might have to make out with my best friend," Adrienne snorted.

"Hey, I'd make out with Mari," Alya countered. "Bromance is nothing to be ashamed of. Come on, are you in?"

Adrienne reluctantly raised her hand.

"Yes!" Nino and Alya cheered, high-fiving again and settling down at adjacent lines of the circle.

Marinette was such a mess of nervousness that she forced Alya to go first. Alya spun the bottle. It landed between herself and Nino.

"Nothing," she said, with- was that a hint of disappointment in her voice?

"Me next." Nino reached for the bottle. He spun it, as well. Nothing again.

"This is boring," he groaned.

Alya's eyes were glued to the bottle. "Shh. It'll get better, I promise you."

"Really?" Nino asked with evident doubt.

"I bet you ten euros it lands on a line before we finish playing."

Nino hesitated, then slapped Alya's hand. "Deal."

Two rounds came and went until the bottle finally landed on a line... Nino's line.

"But I was the one who spun it," he said in confusion. "Does that mean I have to make out with myself?"

"No, it means you have to eat 12 Oreos in a row without stopping to breathe or something. New rule!" Alya yelled.

"You're so crazy." Marinette shook her head.

Nino cracked his knuckles. "12 Oreos? I can handle that. Where are the Oreos, Marinette?"

She stood up, left the bedroom, and came back with a package of Oreos. Nino rubbed his hands together and selected 12.

"Eat-them! Eat-them! Eat-them! Eat-them!" Alya chanted, raising and slamming her fists on the floor in rhythm.

Nino took a deep breath, then somehow, before their very eyes, stuffed 12 whole Oreos in his mouth at the same time and chewed vigorously. The other room members watched in rapt awe as he swallowed, all 12 Oreos, and shut the package.

"Easy-peasy," he boasted.

"You... you ate 12 Oreos at the same time," Adrienne stammered. She knew how to eat Oreos, and would shove them down her throat if ever given any, but she'd never eat 12 at once.  
In the same mouthful.

Nino grinned. "It's called talent."

Alya cleared her throat and leaned over, palm outstretched. "I believe you owe me something."

Nino sighed and dug a wad of 10 euros from out of his pocket, handing it over to Alya, who grinned slyly.

The game resumed, occasionally pausing for Oreo breaks (because hey, they were growing children), but nothing much more eventful happened until the seventh round.

Marinette cautiously flicked the bottle. It rotated twice at her feeble push, then shakily, slowly, landed right down the center of Adrienne's line.

The foursome watched with bated breath to see if it would move. 

It didn't.

Marinette covered her eyes. 

Adrienne looked up at the quaking girl. She seemed so reluctant to want to kiss Adrienne herself, and she just felt bad for her.

"If..." Adrienne began, then stopped. "If you don't want to kiss me-"

"No!" Marinette rushed. "No, that's not it at all. It's just- this is my first kiss and-"

"Ooooooh," Alya and Nino interrupted in unison.

"Shut up, you two!" Marinette's voice wavered.

"I get it. You don't want me to be your first kiss." It sounded salty, but Adrienne genuinely meant it. If Marinette didn't want have Adrienne be her first kiss, then she could respect that.

"No! That's not it, either. I just... I've never kissed anyone like that, and... I don't know how to kiss. At all." She buried her face in her knees again. 

"It's okay, I can teach you."

Oh, damn, that was smooth as all hell. 

The reaction was instantaneous. Alya and Nino contributed obligatory "OHHHHHH!"s, Marinette blushed redder than it should've been possible, and Adrienne realized the magnitude of what she had just said. 

"Everything okay up there?" Marinette's mom called.

"Yes!" Alya replied, since her friend sure as hell couldn't do it herself.

"Come on, a line like that, you have to kiss him," Nino urged of Marinette.

She couldn't reply. Her cheeks were still cherry red.

"Fine, I'll do it myself if you can't," he sighed, and inched a little closer to Adrienne.

"No!" Marinette spoke at last, coming out from behind her knees. "I'll... I'll do it."

Alya and Nino cheered. Marinette scooted over to Adrienne, and after a moment's hesitation, positioned herself on her lap. They leaned closer to each other, so close that their noses nearly touched.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Adrienne whispered, so softly that only Marinette could hear, "this is my first kiss too. I don't know what I'm doing either."

"Better learn it soon." Marinette didn't give her much time to process that incredibly cocky and confident (and sexy) comment, because then she pressed her lips to Adrienne's and oh god what was this. Adrienne was completely floored, she had no idea what to do, but followed her intuition and just leaned into it, following Marinette's lead. It wasn't all that hard, especially when she relaxed and just their senses merge.

She always thought making out would be gross. Like, putting your tongue inside someone else's mouth and running your hands up and down their body? It never appealed to her. Now, sharing this experience with Marinette, she forgot the weirdness and her qualms and just melted. She was a chunk of hard steel, melting into a soft and malleable liquid at Marinette's touch. Melting into her. 

All the stress from keeping so many secrets at once, and dealing with homework for the first time, and not knowing why Marinette was avoiding her, and all the pressure of being a model-- it trickled away, little by little, until in its stead was a fiery passion, burning through her body. 

She didn't really want it to end, she discovered, and when Marinette pulled away her head was swimming, gasping for air. Marinette seemed pleased that she could cause Adrienne to feel this way, and Adrienne had to hand it to her: that was a fantastic kiss, and an even more fantastic first kiss.

Alya and Nino cheered, as Adrienne breathed heavily and looked into Marinette's eyes. She was smiling. She added a tender smooch to the nose, just for good measure, and then scooted off Adrienne's lap and back to her position at the unoccupied line.

"I'm jealous," Alya whined. "Why can't I have a first kiss like that?"

"You can," came Marinette's reply, as she watched Alya take her turn spinning the bottle and then blew on it so it landed down Nino's line.

"You're cheating," Alya accused.

Marinette shrugged. "Are you really gonna complain?"

Alya considered that for a moment, then rolled her eyes with a smile and attacked Nino with a kiss. Marinette giggled.

By that point it was 9 o'clock, and a sleeve of Oreos couldn't sate four fifteen-year-olds' hunger. They took a break and headed downstairs, discussing Ladybug while Marinette found some unhealthy American junk food for them to consume. 

Sure enough, the night looked like it would lead into a sleepover. Alya and Nino called their parents: all good. They were just waiting on Adrienne.

She tried to explain the situation with her father, but it was harder than she'd thought it would be. They didn't understand having such a strict parent. "Tell him you just can't make it!" Nino pressed, to which Adrienne sighed and shook her head. 

"So you can't stay over?" Marinette concluded.

"Probably not," Adrienne sighed. "My dad is so super strict, he- he didn't even want me to go to school. He really wouldn't like me spending the night at a friend's house, especially on a school night."

Her friends groaned. "It won't be the same without you, man!" Nino complained.

"You didn't even ask him," Alya reminded. "How do you know he'll say no?"

"I just know."

The other three booed. 

"Just call him," Marinette persuaded. "And if he says no, go home. It's better than not asking and having to go home no matter what."

She succumbed and extracted her phone from her pocket, dialing Nathalie's number.

Instead of greeting Adrienne, Nathalie responded coldly, "Your father does not accept calls after 8 pm, Adrien."

"Don't you think he'd rather know I'm not at home by 9 o'clock than wonder where I am the entire night?" Adrienne was, of course, exaggerating; her father wouldn't lose any sleep wondering where she was. But if Nathalie would play dirty and use the wrong name, Adrienne could play dirty too.

"Why are you calling?" she said wearily. 

"I'm at Marinette's house and it's after the Gorilla's hours. I guess I'm stuck here." She wasn't stuck there at all. She knew Marinette's parents would happily give her a ride home if she wanted. However, she didn't want. "Just wanted to tell you that's why I'm not at home."

"Thank you," Nathalie pushed, and hung up.  

"So you can stay?" Alya asked hopefully.

"I guess so."

They all cheered.

"Now I propose a second round of Spin the Bottle!" Alya announced. She dragged Nino up the stairs and manually spun the bottle, steadying it on Nino's line again. "Well, would you look at that!" She wrapped her arms around his neck. Adrienne shut her eyes and turned back to Marinette. 

"So it's just you and me down here, right?" Marinette mumbled, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

"Um... yeah." Adrienne clasped her hands together uncomfortably. Oh, God. How awkward was this going to be? She had never been alone with Marinette before. She wouldn't lie, though, she had kind of wished their kiss had been alone. Just the two of them.

She twisted around. "Your parents won't come in here?"

"No, they're watching Les Intouchables in their room. It's their favorite movie, they won't come out." Marinette sat on the couch, her face pale in the light of the muted television. Or maybe because she was nervous. Adrienne was probably pretty pale, as well. 

"Can I... ask you something?"

Adrienne corrected her posture, and took a deep breath. "Go for it."

"You, uh... do you feel like... I'm not sure if it's just me, but do you feel like it... could've been better if- if it were just the two of us?"

Adrienne glanced back up the stairs. Nino and Alya were still paying them no attention. "What do you mean?" She knew exactly what Marinette meant, she just didn't know if she should respond yes and kiss her again or if she should agree because it was polite.

"I mean... don't you think the kiss was too public?" Marinette cringed at the word. "I mean, don't you think- well, four's a crowd?"

"I... sure, I guess," Adrienne replied nervously.

Marinette didn't seem like she could go on, so Adrienne took matters into her own hands. "Do you want to try it again, then? Like... get a real first kiss, just me and you, no initiation from the bottle?"

"Yes," Marinette whispered. "I'd like that."

So Adrienne moved over a cushion square so they were sharing a cushion, and placed her hand on Marinette's shoulder.

There were no more flirtatious comments from either of them. Somehow, Adrienne liked it better that way. It seemed- realer.

They both leaned in, drawing slowly closer. Marinette's eyes were like little lanterns, providing a little light in the deep ocean of her irises. Adrienne imagined her face must not be that pale anymore, as it felt very warm.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little," Marinette admitted. "I mean, you're-" She gestured to Adrienne. "You're Adrien Agreste."

Adrienne was puzzled. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No!" Marinette stammered. "No, it's just- I can't believe a famous model wants me to be his first kiss, you know?"

"I already was."

"But- if we're doing it over, then technically-" Poor Marinette couldn't form a full sentence for the life of her. Adrienne took pity on her and pulled her in, cutting off her stuttering.

Marinette leaned into it again, a lot less stiff than she had been the first time, and melded herself into one with Adrienne. She was clearly still pretty flustered, judging by the heat that radiated from her cheeks, but it was evident that she was also enjoying it immensely. So was Adrienne. Again, the sensation was less electric and sharp, and more... searing, scalding, merging from two to one in the height of the flaming moment. Adrienne's heart started spasming, jumping erratically, as it did around Ladybug- but instead of the warm soft pangs of love she was used to- this burned, with a fiery passion that stimulated being charred all over by persistent licks of blue-tongued flames, tickling and scorching. She was made of fire, she was melting, she was burning, she was crumbling to dust, and yet she was still there, still solid under the iron grasp of Marinette's fingers. The iron grasp that melted, melted under the pure heat that Adrienne shed, and Marinette was now fuel to the flames that engulfed her body. She was the sun, she was a star, Sirius and Canopus combined in their heat and blinding light, they were both stellar and she didn't want it to end. She loved being stellar.

It had to end, though, because Alya and Nino had evidently gotten bored of kissing each other by cheating in Spin the Bottle and had come down for more junk food. They giggled and attempted to retreat back upstairs before Adrienne and Marinette noticed, but it was too late. They broke apart, no longer stars, just regular human beings made of carbon and space. 

"Damn, you guys, I thought Nino and I were hopeless saps," Alya chuckled. "You're like an old married couple."

There was nothing "old" or "married" about being a star. Adrienne vaguely wondered if this was a common thing, if anyone could make her melt under their grasp and turn her into a being of cosmic heat. 

Marinette was back to being nervous and incapable of saying a sentence without tripping over her words. "R-right, sorry, you're right, I-" She took her hands off of Adrienne's shoulders shakily and swung off the couch. "Can I- can I get you someth- I mean, is there-"

"We just want more food," Nino cut her off.

She gulped. "Right. Yes. Okay, you ate entire bag of crisps, and Maman doesn't keep much junk food in the house-"

"Doesn't she keep a bin in the bakery full of almost-stale bread?" Alya interrupted. "I love bread. I'm always a slut for bread."

"Alya, don't say that when my parents are just a few rooms away!"

"Right, sorry. I won't mention that I love bread again."

Marinette glared. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Mm-hmm." As Alya opened the door to find the hall leading down to the bakery floor, she hummed quietly, "I'm always a slut for bread."

"I swear, she's going to give me a headache," Marinette sighed, massaging her temples.

"I'm surprised she didn't already, to be honest," Adrienne joked.

"Me too." Marinette stretched. "Anyone want to watch Pitch Perfect or something?"

"Alya said you only have the dubbed version," Nino pointed out. "And live-action dubs are just painful to watch."

"Fair enough. Okay, how about The Hunchback of Notre Dame?" she suggested. "That has a nice French dub. Plus, it's animated, so it barely even matters that it's dubbed."

Alya rearrived in the doorway, toting an armful of day-old bread. "The bread-slut has delivered," she announced, strolling into the room. 

"We're watching The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Nino filled her in, following Adrienne and Marinette up the stairs to Marinette's room again. 

"Oh, perfect," Alya stated as she bit into half a baguette and chewed it. They all paraded up the stairs while Marinette loaded a copy of the movie into the DVD player.

By the time the movie was finished, it was 11- supposedly a good time to start getting ready for bed. Supposedly. Of course, being teenagers drunk on first kisses and indulging in baguettes, the idea seemed almost laughable to them, and they proceeded to attempt a 2D Disney marathon of all the Disney movies Marinette owned. After having watched The Princess and the Frog, Mulan, almost Lady and the Tramp (but the suggestion was revoked when Adrienne's cat-like instincts forbade her to watch a movie following dogs), Aladdin, and Pocahontas, it was a little after 5 am. Everyone had lost track of time in being swept away in the magic of Disney movies.

"We have school today," Adrienne groaned. Her hair was an utter mess. She imagined her friends didn't think it was possible for a model to have a bad hair day, but pulling an all-nighter would do the trick.

"Don't tell me you can't deal without a little sleep," Nino snorted. "Come on, that was worth it. Disney movies are the best."

Nino was right. It was definitely worth it. Adrienne looked over to realize, in deep embarrassment, that she and Marinette had been cuddling for the majority of the marathon. Not that she minded- Marinette was a great cuddler- but they weren't even dating or anything. Ladybug prevented any chances of that.

Was she a little disappointed that her first kiss hadn't been with Ladybug? Maybe, but it wasn't exactly surprising to her. Ladybug wasn't interested, she knew it, it had been reminded of her over and over again. She often had to remind herself, to keep herself under control. So- did that make Marinette a "next-best-thing" sort of deal? 

Marinette was worth more than that. A horrible guilt started to settle within Adrienne's stomach, right where the fire had been during the kiss. Was she leading Marinette on, kissing her and flirting with her even though she wasn't interested? Well, she wasn't not interested, entirely, it was just that her heart belonged to Ladybug, and Ladybug alone. She would probably never love Marinette the way she loved Ladybug. Oh, god. She was definitely leading Marinette on. Her heart, which had been pumping gleefully all night, was slowing, freezing, solidifying into cold hard rock. What had she done?

Should she come clean? No- that would probably result in the others finding out her identity as Chat Noire. Who in their right mind who wasn't Chat would turn down such a beautiful girl as Marinette for Ladybug? Perfect, confident, unattainable Ladybug?

Drop hints for Marinette? No, that would just be cruel.

Stay quiet about it? While it pained her to admit it, Adrienne knew that that course of action was probably for the greater good. Maybe one day she'd have to tell Marinette that her one and only was Ladybug, but not today. Not anytime soon.

And besides, they weren't even dating or anything. It had just been a kiss.

A kiss that transformed her into a celestial body of flames and heat and light. A kiss that had warmed her through her entire body. A kiss that had made her feel as though she were countless stars, spinning and cartwheeling through space, bringing light and joy and life wherever they went-

She had enjoyed that kiss way too much for her own good.

As the gang began to pack up their things and brush their teeth and complain about stomachaches ("Hey- you were the one that ate seven baguettes and half a sleeve of Oreos," Marinette chastised Alya), Adrienne's quiet introspection bothered her more and more. No one noticed how agitated she seemed, which was probably for the better: she was so spaced-out that if asked any questions, she probably would've responded with "Passion fruit milkshake."

Was she a bad person? Well, it had just been a game of Spin the Bottle, and no one ever took that game seriously. So it didn't even matter.

But it did. Marinette had asked for them to try it again, sans la bouteille, and it actually meant something to her, she was sure of it. 

God, why did teenage hormones have to exist? This was too confusing, she couldn't think straight (only gay), and she just wanted to go home at this point.

Unfortunately, it was 6 am by then, and they all had to go to school in a few hours. So she was forced to sit through 8 hours of academia, all in front of Marinette the whole time. It was pure hell, especially after having not gotten any sleep at all, and not having eaten anything of nutritional value in recent hours. She was immensely regretting the night.

When she arrived home at 4, she was so tired and disgruntled that she was ready to fall on her bed face-first and go straight to sleep. Of course, her brain had other ideas.

I kissed Marinette. Marinette kissed me. Ladybug kissed me. I love Ladybug. Ladybug doesn't love me. Ladybug doesn't know how much I love her. Marinette seems to love me. I don't love Marinette, but I kissed her. Twice.

The phrase that kept popping into her head was "amour chassé-croisé." Criss-crossed love. 

Yes, that seemed to be a good phrase for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading friends
> 
> so next up is some nice marichat which is still my least favorite out of the love square but I haven't written it at all ever yet so I've been excited to write this (like actually a whole chapter just for marichat)
> 
> also it may be later than usual bc I will be at tatinof on the 5th of May (tomorrow) so I humbly apologize if it's like five days later and also I'm so hyped to see Dan and Phil live (dw I've written a good 2k words already so you won't have to wait for too long)
> 
> you all should thank me though bc this is the longest chapter I've ever written and believe me I've written a lot of chapters in my lifetime


	4. In Which The Author Conveniently Added A Very Important Upcoming Event Four Chapters In And Was Too Lazy To Edit The Other Chapters So The a Readers Just Have To Be Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noire is snowed in with Marinette in her house and they work on a project together and also kiss
> 
> also a cheeky Hamilton reference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MARICHAT MARICHAT MARICHAT
> 
> it used to be my least favorite by a large margin but I think it's quickly becoming my favorite ugh why do I do this to myself

Adrienne had generally been a lot more distracted than usual since she had started attending school. Naturally, Chat Noire was a big part of it, but it was so hard to balance everything without arising suspicion. She had to attend school for 8 hours four days a week, take fencing lessons, practice piano, attend Chinese tutoring, transform subtly anytime an Akuma struck, actually defeat the Akuma, come up with any excuses that might be necessary after the attack, and on top of all that she had to remember answer to the wrong name most of the time. 

She hadn't slept in a week, she was weak, she was awake, you never seen a damn-near orphan more in need of a break. (For all of you who get this reference, I love you.) In fact, a visit to see Marinette would have relaxed her immensely. She would have loved to bask in the warm aroma of the bakery, head in Marinette's lap, and just take a nap and forget everything, knowing that Marinette was right there, stroking her honey-blond locks. That was her fantasy right now, as she was condemned to the hard wood chairs of the school and the endless droning of Mme. Mendeliev about polars and covalent bonds and potential versus kinetic energy. 

That was new. Never before had she fantasized about falling asleep in a bakery, in the lap of a classmate.

The best part, though, was that she could actually do it. She was sure that she could just show up in some random bakery and fall asleep there. No one would complain. Would it be a little weird? Sure. But absolutely and totally worth it. She longed for the sweet air of flour and buttercream frosting, and for the feeling of warm croissants being baked all around her. She yearned for the sensation of being surrounded by warmth and light and love. It was a hell of a lot better than sleeping at her own house. 

To indulge herself after so many hard weeks, she vowed to head to the bakery right after school let out. That fantasy didn't last very long, as Papillon struck yet again with an Akuma that hurled footballs at her every five seconds. (Psst, for all you Americans, like me- that's a soccer ball in France.)

Ladybug was at her side in minutes. She regarded Chat Noire's displeasured face and gave her a wry smile. "I take it you're not really into sports?"

"It's not that, I'm just not really that into getting footballs thrown at my face. I'm sure you can relate."

"Yeah, I got you." Ladybug spun her yo-yo to get it going, then leapt towards the Princesse Stadium, where the- was that a football coach gone wrong?- was waiting. (Reminder: still soccer.)

Chat Noire followed. This fight was probably the longest and most arduous fight she could remember, and it completely drained her of energy. By the end, she was close to passing out. Actually, she was surprised she hadn't done so already. 

After all this, she reasoned, a trip to the bakery and a nap was surely in order. She had no energy to transform back, and since she hadn't used her Cataclysm yet, she could stay in the suit indefinitely. She walked into the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and promptly collapsed onto the floor, completely and entirely exhausted like she had never experienced. Her perception quickly faded as her eyes slid shut.

She didn't remember having been brought up to the living room area, but when she woke up she was resting on the second-level sofa. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. A plate of croissants was laid out for her and she had been wrapped in a blanket.

Chat Noire peered over into the little kitchen. Marinette was preparing her lunch for tomorrow. "Hey," Chat said hoarsely. 

Marinette jumped and knocked over the bread she was using. "Oh! Chat Noire, you scared me. Um-- my name's Marinette. Are you- are you comfortable?" 

"Very." Chat Noire adjusted the blanket around her shoulders and watched as Marinette cleaned up the vestiges of the bread crumbs. "I'm- I'm sorry if I've been a bother, I didn't mean for you trouble yourself taking care of me."

"Oh- no, no, you're fine," Marinette assured hastily. "It was fine, we were happy to have you here. Maman thought you might be more comfortable up here, and plus- it might have looked bad if we had a sleeping superhero sprawled on our floor, people might've thought we kidnapped you or something."

"You might as well have. I want to stay here a while." She turned and tried to look out the window. "How long was I asleep?"

"Oh... it was 5 when you came in, and now it's..." Marinette checked the clock on the oven. "10 or so?"

Chat Noire's face paled. "I've... I've been out for 5 hours?"

"If you ask me, you should've been asleep for longer." Marinette peered at the bags under Chat's eyes. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Not exactly. I actually came here to take a nap in the first place." She yawned. "I guess I should be going now."

"If you're not getting enough sleep at home, then why should you sleep there?" Marinette finished making her lunch and came to join Chat Noire on the couch. "My parents would love to have you."

"Really? I'm a stranger, aren't I?" Chat extracted a hand from the blanket and swept away a stray lock of Marinette's sleek beetle-black hair. "Do you just let anyone sleep in your house if they're tired?" 

"You're Chat Noire. The entire city adores you. You're hardly a stranger." Marinette's lips tugged up at the corners. "From the looks of you, you seem young enough to go to school. Isn't there school tomorrow for you, then?"

"You got me there, Princesse." Chat Noire selected a croissant and bit into it. It was flaky and buttery. "I suppose you're right. It would make more sense for me to stay the night. Plus, this place is awfully cozy."

"That might just be because we just finished a batch of pain au chocolats." Marinette smiled. "They always make the house warm and everything smells like chocolate and hints of vanilla."

Chat Noire raised an eyebrow. "Only you would use words like hints of vanilla in conversation."

"Well, it does!" Marinette crossed her arms. "Are you hungry, or is that enough?"

"No, I'm not hungry." She was never hungry after a nap, though she was sure she'd be starving by the time she woke up again tomorrow. "You can leave me be, Princesse. I'll be perfectly fine on the couch."

"What? Paris's favorite cat, condemned to sleeping on the couch for the night? My parents would never let me hear the end of it. Come up to my room, chaton. You can sleep on the chaise."

"But I'm so comfortable," Chat Noire whined. "I like being swaddled in this blanket."

Marinette sighed. "Fine, I'll carry you." She stood up to scoop Chat Noire out of the depression she had made in the cushions. 

Chat Noire nearly laughed. Marinette, who was probably six inches shorter than her, trying to pick her up and carry her to her room? "Good luck with that."

Marinette didn't respond, but instead lifted Chat Noire into her arms like a baby. Chat was shocked, and she was probably blushing. She hadn't been held like this since-- well, since she'd had her mom.

"You're stronger than I thought you were," Chat said, truthfully. 

"Just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm weak." Marinette winked playfully and carried Chat Noire up the stairs with ease, setting her on the chaise. She was still swathed in blanket.

"Thank you, Princesse." Chat snuggled into the mattress of the chaise. "This is a bed fit for a queen."

"You mean a cat."

Chat Noire stuck her tongue out. Marinette laughed.

"Here, let me bring up the plate just in case you get hungry." She paused on her way back down. "You sure you're comfortable?"

"Positive." Chat wrapped the blankets tighter around her. "Snug as a cat in a rug."

Marinette waltzed down the stairs and came back with the plate of croissants in hand, setting it next to the chaise. "Good night, Chat Noire." She leaned over to turn out the light.

Chat stared. "You don't mean to tell me that you're going to bed at 10, do you?"

"Well, you're tired and it's my understanding that cats sleep better in the dark. So it makes the most sense for us to go to bed at the same time, doesn't it?"

"Aw, Princesse..." Chat Noire tried for an endeared smile. "You're so sweet."

"Hey, I live in a patisserie. I know all about sweet." Marinette winked. "Right, good night."

"Sweet dreams, babydoll."

Marinette laughed. "Okay, I can tolerate 'Princesse,' but not 'babydoll.'"

"What's wrong with 'babydoll?'"

"Good night, Chat Noire." Marinette shut off the lights and jogged up the stairs onto the ledge with her bed on it.

Chat Noire was prepared to engage Marinette in a brainstorm for a new nickname besides 'babydoll,' but she figured that after Marinette had bade her goodnight three times, she was probably ready to go to bed.

As was Chat. She adjusted the blankets and fell asleep almost as soon as she shut her eyes. 

Her dreams were restless and horrifying. She vaguely remembered waking up twice because she had been so scared, but she couldn't even remember what had terrified her so after she woke up. At around 1 am, she finally fell into a steady sleep. She gladly accepted the warm embrace of slumber as it overcame her.

The first thing that came to mind when she woke up was it's past 8 am. She didn't know how she knew, but she certainly knew it. Which meant that she would be late for class and she'd have to skip breakfast and her father would kill her-

She sat up, confused as to why she wasn't in her bed, then remembered that she was at Marinette's house. She attempted to look up at Marinette in her bed on the loft. Marinette seemed to already be awake, as her bed was deserted and the covers were thrown aside.

Chat Noire looked down. Still in costume. Good. 

She, too, threw off her blankets and madd her way down the stairs. Marinette's family were all sitting together on the couch, discussing school and the weather and if Marinette liked any boys.

"Maman!" she reproached, blushing and blushing deeply. "I told you-" She turned around and upon seeing Chat Noire standing at the base of the stairs, blushed even deeper. 

"Hey, Princesse," Chat Noire greeted.

"Or girls," Sabine added. "Do you like any girls? Are they cute?"

"Maman!" She flashed an apologetic smile to Chat Noire. "Sorry, she does this sometimes. It's nothing, I swear," she said to her mother.

"Are you sure? Chat Noire's a very nice girl. Are you single, Chat Noire?" Sabine addressed the superheroine.

"You don't have to answer that," Marinette said quickly.

Chat Noire smiled. "Yes, I'm single, Madame."

"Better take that one quickly, honeybun, nice girls like her don't stay single for long." Sabine winked and ruffled her daughter's hair, standing up and leaving the table. "You two have fun, okay?"

Her husband followed, and the couple left for the bakery to start making the dough.

Marinette sighed as she watched her parents go. "I am so sorry. She's just-"

"No, no, it's fine," Chat Noire laughed.

Marinette was studying a lock of hay-colored hair strewn over Chat's shoulder. "So it's true? You're actually single?"

Chat Noire shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I've kissed around here and there, but I don't think anyone would classify me as their girlfriend."

"I hate to say it, but I actually agree with my mom for once. What's a nice, attractive girl like you doing riding solo? Do you just not want a relationship?"

"No... okay, this may sound stuck-up, but I'm pretty sure there's a decent number of people who'd be willing to date me." That was an understatement. There were multiple Adrien Agreste fan clubs, the members of which would probably kill just to get their hands on her. "It's just... the one girl I do like isn't interested. Like, at all."

"Aw, what a shame." Marinette patted the seat next to her, indicating that Chat Noire should sit down. "What's she like?"

Chat obliged. "Well, she's... she's smart, and she's funny, and she's playful, and she's independent, but not so independent that she doesn't just push you to the side. She'll always accept help, she's sociable, she's... she's pretty, too. Oh, man, she's just straight-up gorgeous. She's brave, but not brave to the point of just being stupid. And... well..." There were so many good things to say about Ladybug, but if she said too much more, she was sure she'd never be able to stop. "Yeah. She's just magnificent."

"Sounds like it."

"Okay, your turn. I told you, now you tell me, Princesse."

"Tell you what?"

"First of all, why it's-" she glanced over at the clock. "10:30 and you're not in school. And second of all, you have to tell me if you're in love with anyone. And then you have to tell me about them."

"Fine, I'll answer the first one first. It's a snow day." She pulled aside the blinds to reveal the city blanketed in snow. "Plus, we're snowed in. My parents aren't even baking for customers, no one can get in."

"Wow." Chat Noire put an elbow on the table. "Now, for my second query."

"Fine. Yes, I- I have a crush on this one boy."

Chat's tail flicked. "Tell me about him."

"Oh, where to begin?" Marinette tapped her face thoughtfully. "Well, he's kind and sweet, and he's so polite and thoughtful. Plus, he's a really good kisser," she added with a blush, again.

Chat Noire raised her eyebrows. "So you've kissed him? But your mother said you-"

"Oh, right. I suppose you could say that you and I are in similar situations. He's kissed me, but it doesn't really count. It was initiated in a game of Spin the Bottle."

Chat Noire was beginning to get an idea of who this mystery man was- or really, the mystery woman. Marinette just didn't know that. "But if it was a good kiss like you said, then it shouldn't matter how you got it, right?"

"I guess. It doesn't matter, though, because he's not interested in me anyway. I think." She sighed. "He's a model, you know. He can probably have any girl in the city. Why would he want someone like me?"

"Hey, now, you're a real catch, you know."

Marinette shoved Chat Noire playfully. "Shut up."

"I mean it. I don't crash in just anyone's room when I'm too exhausted to move a limb." Chat Noire flashed a devilish smile, fangs and  
all, at Marinette. 

"Well, the real thing is- I think he doesn't want a relationship anyway. He- his dad's really strict, and he seems like-" Marinette clenched her fist. "I don't know. He always seems like he has a million secrets, and he just wants to tell someone, but he can't."

Chat Noire was surprised. Marinette had a sharp eye. That was, actually, basically her predicament. Too many secrets and no one to tell them to. "What makes you say that?"

"It's- it's just this way that he has. It's in his eyes, or something. I just want to make him trust me enough so he can finally have someone to tell them to, but I don't think that'll ever happen." She was propping her face up by her hand now, resting her elbow on the table like Chat Noire. "I think if he intended to do something like that, I'd know. And right now, he just seems- confused by me. I mean, I don't blame him, I- I can't speak around him. I always mess up my sentences and I switch around words and I'm always shaking, and it's not even his fault."

"Well- why do you act that way around him?"

"Ugh. He's so hot, Chat Noire." Marinette leaned back into her chair. "How could I not? I have the biggest crush on him." She shifted her head slightly to look at Chat Noire and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested, anyway?"

Oh, it's just that I happen to be your crush but I'm transgender and Chat Noire is the only way I can safely express myself and so everyone, including you, thinks that I'm a boy when I'm not transformed and you just so happened to call me hot. You know, general topics of interest.

"Well, you listened to me, so I thought it was only fair that I listened to you." Chat Noire traced the pattern of the coasters. "Why do you like him so much, though? I mean, it can't be just because he's hot, right?"

"No! I mean, that is a plus, though," she amended. "He's just- I can just tell by looking at him that he has all this pain, and he deals with it so well. I mean, he lost his mom, he says his dad's pretty distant, and he said he's never gone to school before. But all the same, he keeps his head up and he does what he needs to- and more. He sticks up for people when they can't do it themselves, he's always willing to help out if someone needs it, and-" Marinette glanced bashfully up at Chat Noire. "Oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"It's fine," Chat Noire coaxed. It wasn't that she just wanted to hear Marinette sing her praises and boost her ego, she more wanted to know how to make Marinette less nervous and awkward around her. Also, it was refreshing to hear that she was admired because she was a good person, and not because she was a model.

"Oh, I've said enough. Are you hungry? You've only eaten a croissant in the last, like-" Marinette counted on her fingers, assuming Adrienne had eaten lunch at 2. "20 hours."

Had it really been that long? Adrienne ran the numbers in her head. Yes, 2 pm to 10 am was 20 hours. Wow. "Yes." She certainly was hungry.

"I bet some of the stuff will be ready soon from the bakery. In the meantime, do you want an apple or something? Or some cat food?"

"Hey!"

"What? Don't eat cat food? Guess you aren't really immersed in cat culture, are you?" Marinette scoffed. "And you call yourself Chat Noire."

"Would you prefer I caught mice and knocked over all your cups?"

Marinette considered that for a second. "Okay, it's probably for the better that you're not completely immersed in cat culture."

The door was opened and Sabine and Tom arrived in the doorway, toting several baskets of baked goods. "Hungry, girls?" Tom asked, proffering a basket to Chat Noire.

"Yes, please," she said, accepting the basket and choosing a macaron. It was sweet and perfectly moist, the filling dissolving on her tongue and leaving a nice aftertaste of oranges. "Wow. This is the best macaron I've ever tasted."

"Papa makes really good macarons," Marinette agreed, stealing one from Chat's basket. 

She slapped her arm. "Get your own basket, missy."

"Make me," Marinette teased, and snatched a profiterole from the basket.

Chat considered this, then grabbed the basket and cuddled it protectively. "You'll never separate me from my love!" She adjusted her posture so Marinette couldn't even touch the basket and very, very carefully extracted a brioche, popping it in her mouth.

"You play dirty," Marinette laughed.

"I said get your own basket." Chat Noire stuck out her tongue again and slowly, agonizingly slowly, stuck a meringue petit-four in her mouth and chewed it, making direct eye contact with Marinette.

Marinette sighed and selected another basket from her parents' arms. "You also drive a hard bargain."

"Are you sure you aren't interested in her, honey?" Sabine pressed. "You know-"

"Maman, I told you, I like someone else!" Marinette groaned.

Technically, she didn't. Technically, she was in love with Adrienne, which meant she loved Chat Noire. She wasn't about to say that out loud, though.

"Whatever you say, sweetie." Sabine set the remaining baskets on the table. "We'll be in our room, trying to see if we can download your homework for today." She kissed Marinette's forehead and walked with Tom into their room.

Marinette finished her éclair and and regarded Chat Noire thoughtfully. "Looks like you'll be stuck here the entire day. Is there something you want to do?"

Chat Noire was about to give a serious answer, but instead chose to act flirty and elusive. She leaned over the table and closed the gap between herself and Marinette. She considered answering "you," but wisely decided against it and said instead, "How about kissing me?"

Marinette recoiled. "Hey, now, just because I said you weren't a stranger doesn't mean-"

"We've got nothing better to do," Chat Noire pointed out. "Plus, I hear you're a good kisser."

Marinette lifted an eyebrow. "From who?"

"Well, I just so happen to be friends with a certain Adrien Agreste." Chat Noire tapped Marinette's nose. "And he told me that he had his first kiss with you yesterday."

Marinette promptly turned cherry-blossom pink. "Wh- you- you know-" She began to shake. "Oh, God, I didn't think you would actually- please, please don't tell him that I-"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Princesse." She smiled. "He just said it was a very nice kiss."

"Did he tell everyone about it?" she whispered in horror. "About the kiss?"

"What? No! No, I'm the only person he told. I promise."

Marinette still seemed cautious. "Did he tell you in suit or out?"

How was she meant to answer that? "Um. I forget?"

"Please, please, don't tell him everything I said about him," Marinette pleaded. "I never thought you'd know who I was talking about- I-"

"Calm down, babydoll."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Marinette. I won't say a word to him. My lips are sealed." She mimed zipping her mouth closed. 

"You promise."

"I promise. Cat's word, and all that. What would I stand to gain from it, anyway?"

"I don't know," Marinette admitting, shoulders relaxing slightly."I just- I really don't want him to know." She massaged her own neck. "Imagine how awkward that would be. He might not want to be my friend anymore, and- and I really like being friends with him."

Chat Noire couldn't help but to feel that she had been intruding on Marinette's privacy by grilling her about her feelings toward Adrienne. But like the idiot she was, she just kept talking. "Well, but didn't you say he was kind and polite? Don't you think he'd want to be your friend no matter what if that were the case?"

"I hope," she sighed. "But I don't want to risk it." She gave Chat Noire a sidelong glance. "And you said you wouldn't tell him. You promised."

"I did," Chat Noire agreed. "I don't go back on my promises. I just think you don't give him enough credit. I've known him for a while." All my life, to be precise, and even before that. "I think he'd accept you no matter what."

She realized that she was kind of talking about herself. She, too, wished for her friends to accept her no matter what: like if she announced she was a different gender. She did think that her friends would accept her, she was just kind of scared, because there was always a chance that they didn't.

She suddenly understood Marinette's desire to keep her feelings for Adrienne secret.

"Yeah, but imagine how awkward that would make our friendship. I still don't think he has feelings for me. Imagine if you were just trying to hang out with your friends but you had to live with the knowledge that one of them was in love with you," Marinette sighed. "It'd be so uncomfortable."

There was no need to imagine. Very soon, once she was reunited with her friends, Adrienne would be living out the scenario.

"I see your point, Princesse. Okay, back to the question of what we're going to do."

"Think of a better nickname than 'babydoll,'" Marinette suggested.

"Okay. How about... Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."

"That's a title, not a nickname," Marinette scoffed.

"Fine. What about Future Madame Agreste?"

Marinette was positively red. "Chat Noire! Shut the-" She bit back a curse word. "Shut the hell up."

"What were you going to say?"

"Something much worse. You can call me 'Your Lord and Savior,' if you want. That's acceptable."

"Better idea. 'My Lady.'"

Marinette froze. "Don't call me that." She whirled on Chat Noire. "Please, never call me that again."

Chat Noire chuckled. "Okay, sorry, Princesse. I won't-"

"Never, ever again." Marinette gulped. "I don't... I don't want any of your pet names for Ladybug."

"Aw, why is that? Most girls would swoon at the ridiculously beautiful Chat Noire comparing them to Ladybug." Chat Noire raised her eyebrows.

Marinette shuddered. "Yeah, well, not me."

"Why so adamant?"

"Let's move on," she said, rather forcefully. "What about 'light of your life?'"

Chat Noire considered that. "Or 'clementine.'"

Marinette gave her an expression of distaste. "'Clementine?'" 

"It just popped into my head. And besides, you're sweet and little and are inedible from the outside."

She laughed. "Thanks... I think. Okay, maybe 'clementine.'"

"Darling," Chat Noire proposed. "Honey pie. My little oojy-boojy sweetums. John Cena." She stuck another petit-four in her mouth. "Slightly damp paper towel. A lone baobab tree in the heart of the African savannah. Susan B. Anthony."

"I could get used to 'Susan B. Anthony.'"

"The new Samsung Galaxy 4S. Red delicious apple. Kevin Jonas. According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible." She tapped Marinette's nose. "Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, bl-"

She couldn't finish the rest, because Marinette clamped a hand over her mouth. "Please," she said, "shut up."

Chat Noire stopped as she removed the hand. "Don't like that nickname?"

"What even was that?" Marinette giggled.

"The entirety of the Bee Movie script, of course. Or, what would've been the entirety, if you hadn't stopped it so prematurely. I'm offended."

"Sorry." The smile around her eyes made it clear that she wasn't sorry at all.

"Okay, it's been decided. Your new nickname is Susan B. Anthony. Or clementine."

"Either/or," Marinette shrugged.

"There we are, now. All right, that's one thing to check off the bucket list. What now?"

"Hmm... I'll teach you to sew," Marinette announced.

"You'll what, now?"

"I'll teach you to sew. You can help me on my new project." Marinette stood up and headed for the stairs.

"And what project might that be?" Chat Noire inquired, following suit.

"I'm designing an outfit for the Ladybug and Chat Noire appreciation day thing." She selected a few spools of thread off her shelves and a pincushion. "It's a big undertaking and I could use some help. They're full outfits, and that requires a lot of stitching."

"For you to wear?"

"Me? No, I'm not going. I was hoping they'd be for you and Ladybug yourselves."

Chat Noire cocked her head. "Why aren't you going?"

"I'm... going to be really busy. So I thought to add a little Marinette magic, I would design dresses for you and Ladybug. Then it would be like I was there in spirit." Marinette threaded her needle and selected a long ladybug-print swatch of fabric and a length of silk. "Actually, you can give me some pointers on what you'd like."

"Something really sexy," Chat Noire suggested.

Marinette grinned. "One step ahead of you, minou."

"That's good." Chat Noire watched the silver needle bob up and down through the fabric, leaving little dashes of black thread in its wake. "Can I see your designs?"

"Go for it." Marinette set her fabric down for a moment and retrieved a sketchbook from her desk. It was pink and patterned with white polka dots. She flipped to a page and handed the book to Chat Noire. 

It was a sketch of Ladybug's dress. The dress was initially a cotton ladybug-patterned ankle-length kind of deal. It had a black silk sash around the waist, tied back in a ribbon. From the sash down, the skirt of the dress was also covered in a layer of white chiffon. A black cape emulating ladybug wings was sewn to the back of the neck, falling around the back and stopping around the thighs. The mask was given a few touches here and there to make it a little more elaborate. The bodice had shoulder-length sleeves, but the arms were also covered in elbow-length black leather gloves. Ladybug's trademark ribbons were still present, but also given a few more flourishes. Instead of the usual pigtails, her hair was curled and lay neatly over her shoulders. The shoes were simple red flats with a bow and a singular dot.

"These look incredible," Chat Noire said, honestly. "I bet Ladybug will love them."

"I ran them by her already."

"And?"

"She liked them."

"I can see why."

"Mm. Turn the page and tell me what you think."

She turned the page. Chat Noire's designs were equally amazing: a black cap-sleeved bodice with a large green paw print on the front, mimicking her ring, and a knee-length skirt that was slashed with claw-like tears here and there. Just like always, the design included sexy black leather knee-high boots. Marinette had included side notes like: black lipstick? heavy mascara and smokey eye. cat-ear headband. Her outfit, too, used elbow-high black gloves, and just like Ladybug, the mask was basically the same, with a few minor iterations.

"I really like it," Chat Noire said, again, truthfully. "There's just one complication."

Marinette looked up from her sewing. "What's that?"

"I look... like... really different when not transformed," she confessed. "It's... you wouldn't even believe it if you saw me detransform right in front of you."

"Like how? I'm assuming you don't always have those eyes, at the very least," Marinette postulated, making a rectangle with her fingers and viewing Chat Noire through it, sticking her tongue out in concentration.

"It's... a more complicated than that." A lot more complicated. "My... my hair is normally a lot shorter, for instance."

"Like how much shorter?"

"Like here." She lifted her hand to her ear. 

Marinette whistled. "Wow. That is a lot shorter. Isn't it more convenient like that?"

"Well... yes, but I much prefer it like this." She tugged on a strand by her face. "I... my dad forces me to keep it short. I want it long."

Marinette didn't stay on the subject for long, which was a relief. "That's fair. Anything else?"

"A lot. That's- that's like, the least of it, besides my eyes. My point is, I don't think I could wear this out of suit, but the way you've designed it, I don't think I could wear it in suit, either."

Marinette pondered that for a second, then her eyes lit up. "I haven't started on it yet, so what if I gave you the design and you asked your kwami to alter your suit for you? It might look a little weird with your eyes, but-"

"That'd be great," she interrupted in relief. "That'd be- that'd be perfect. Especially since I can't do makeup anyway."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Really? Have you ever worn it?"

"No."

She laughed. "Really? Almost every girl has worn makeup before. Aren't you a teenager?"

Chat Noire was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She wondered why she had even brought it up. "Um. My dad didn't want me wearing it."

"Your dad is weird," Marinette decided. 

Not weird, just transphobic, Chat Noire thought bitterly, but said aloud, "I guess so."

"Anything else you want me to change? I mean, the makeup was just a suggestion that I can get rid of, but-"

"No, it's fine. I can just ask my kwami." She looked back at the sketchbook. "I wouldn't really change anything."

"Then do you want to help me with Ladybug's bodice? The stitch is really simple." Marinette demonstrated on the fabric. "See?"

She handed the needle to Chat Noire, who promptly dropped it. "Sorry, clementine." She retrieved the needle and tried to copy Marinette's work so far, but the stitches came out crooked and out of line. "Oh, I'm bad at this."

"No, you're not." Marinette took the needle and fabric back. "It doesn't even matter how the stitches look, anyway. It just matters that they hold. They're so little, no one ever notices them."

"Yeah, but yours are so neat."

"That comes with experience and practice. It's not really important." Marinette finished a few more stitches. "If you're really hung up about it, then you can do the inseams. I turn them inside-out later, so it doesn't matter how they look."

"Sure, I'll do that. Anything for my Susan B. Anthony." She winked.

Marinette's lips twitched. "I feel so adored." She handed what would probably be the skirt to Chat Noire and threaded a needle swiftly for her. "Here, sew this section up. Try to match the sharpie lines up with each other."

Chat Noire turned the fabric around. On each of the edges of the fabric, a line of sharpie had been drawn. "You got it." She accepted the needle and attempted to make her stitches as straight and uniform as possible. "You make it look so easy."

"Also comes with experience." Marinette stuck some pins in her mouth. "Tell me if you need any help."

They worked quietly for a few hours, until Tom called up. "Are you girls hungry? Do you want some lunch?"

"Yes," Chat Noire answered immediately, discarding the fabric and laying it gently on the chair she had just been sitting on.

Marinette considered, then followed Chat's suit and set her project down, climbing down the stairs after her. Sabine and Tom had made potato and broccoli cheddar galettes, which looked infinitely better than the kinds her father always had the chef serve her. Those galettes were practically engineered to be as healthy as possible. These were made with love.

"Have you kids been having fun?" Tom asked, watching them eat the galettes.

"Marinette taught me how to sew," Chat Noire said around a mouthful of potatoes. "Also, we chose a nickname for her."

"Aww," Sabine sighed dreamily. "What did you choose?"

Marinette was about to answer, but Chat Noire cut in instead. "According to all known laws of aviation," she began, swallowing the last of her food, "there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black, Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little."

The rest of the script was stifled as Marinette scarfed down the remainder of her galette and quickly kissed Chat Noire, who shut up on contact. It was just a kiss on the nose, but it took her by surprise so acutely that she couldn't continue.

Marinette sat back, evidently pretty pleased with herself, until she turned around and recognized her parents' reactions.

"Wait- no-" she stammered, cheeks reddening rapidly. "I don't- I was just trying to-"

"Oh, sweetie, it's so perfect!" Sabine swooned . "You two are so cute."

"No- Maman!" Marinette protested. "We don't- I just wanted her to stop reciting the Bee Movie script! She doesn't respond to anything else."

"It's not like I'm complaining, though," Chat interjected, touching her nose gingerly.

Marinette glared. "You shut up."

"You shut up."

"Stop it! You're encouraging my parents," Marinette complained.

"What a disaster. Or- a catastrophe." Chat Noire finger-gunned. "Ayy!"

"Shut up," Marinette repeated, but her heart clearly wasn't in it.

"Ah, princesse, you can't stay mad at me, can you?" Chat Noire grinned.

"I so can. Watch me."

"You're smiling."

"I am not," Marinette insisted, fighting back a smile.

"You are. I'm just too charming."

Marinette snorted. "You? Charming? You suggested I be called 'slightly damp paper towel.'"

"What's your point?"

Marinette turned with an exasperated sigh to her parents. "You see? She's hopeless."

Her parents paid her no attention. "Chat Noire, did you want any more food, honey?"

"They're already calling you 'honey,'" Marinette groaned. "That basically means adoption in their language."

"I wouldn't complain," Chat muttered to Marinette, and then addressed her parents: "No, that was plenty, thank you so much."

"Well, if you want more, just ask. We're always happy to-"

"Yes, yes, great," Marinette rushed. "Awesome. Chat Noire, come back upstairs and help me with the skirt some more. I could really use your assistance."

"I got you, babydoll." Chat Noire stood up and made her way up the stairs.

"I thought we agreed on not calling me babydoll," she hissed, following close behind.

"Oops." Chat resumed her spot on the skirt, threading in and out. "This is relaxing."

"Yeah." An analytical expression came over Marinette. "Too relaxing."

She stood up from the sewing machine and turned on the dock. A very loud heavy metal song began to play. Chat Noire recognized the tune. It was a Jagged Stone song. 

"Hey, this is my jam." She nodded her head in time to the music.

"Mine too. He's my favorite musical artist. I have five of his albums." She went back to the sewing machine. "I would check the alignment of your stitches right about now, if I were you."

Chat held up the skirt. Her eyes skimmed over the slightly lopsided stitches, which had deviated a little bit from the sharpie line. "Thanks." She began sewing again, this time in the correct place.

They didn't talk much more after that. Actually, they were quiet for hours, sewing and hemming. They took a few snack breaks, but overall it was mostly silent except for the rumble of the sewing machine and Jagged Stone's guitar solos. It was much-needed relaxation for Chat Noire: after having been so stressed for so long, it was nice to finally have a no-pressure, mindless, calming task to do. She welcomed the opportunity with open arms.

They were so wrapped up in sewing that they needed a reminder from Marinette's parents- again- to come downstairs and eat dinner. Which they did. And then went right back to sewing.

At around 9, Marinette looked up from the mask she was painting. "Do you really know the entire Bee Movie script?"

Chat Noire laughed. "No. I know a fair amount, though."

"Like how much?"

Chat Noire cleared her throat. "According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Coming! Hang on a second. Hello? Barry? Adam? Can you believe this is happening? I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's."

"Okay, that's enough," Marinette begged. "Why would you waste your time and energy learning that?"

"Was I supposed to waste it on something else?"

"I don't know. It just seems pointless."

"It's a meme. You wouldn't understand. People do incredible things for memes."

"I can see that." Marinette returned her attention to the mask.

"What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"Have you ever memorized something like that?"

"I tried memorizing the first 50 digits of pi once."

"I'm noticing you said 'tried.'"

"Yeah. I only got to 20. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be." She expertly stroked the brush over the mask. "I probably could've done it. I just decided I didn't want to."

"Quitter."

"You're going to need to rethread that soon," Marinette replied, without looking up.

Chat peeked at the needle. "So I will." She tried to do it herself, but it was hard with her gloves. She handed it to Marinette, who still didn't look up as she threaded the needle with ease and handed the spool and needle back.

It was very late at night- probably past midnight- when they finally chose to put down the project and go to bed. Having gotten her much-needed rest, Chat Noire felt the best she had in a few months (besides the kiss with Marinette, of course) and was more relaxed than ever. She was prepared to go straight to sleep on the chaise, the blanket that smelled like lavender and sugar and cookies- like Marinette- enveloping her in its musk and warmth. Before she was fully asleep, however, Marinette came over and gave her a tender kiss. It was almost better than the one she'd had a little while ago.

"What was that for, clementine?" she whispered, a smile forming of its own accord.

"You suggested it and I delivered."

"When did I suggest that?"

"Remember? I asked what you wanted to do, and you said, "How about kissing me?"

"If I recall correctly, you not only did that already, but you also rejected that suggestion when I suggested it."

"First of all, I only kissed you the first time to get you to stop saying the Bee Movie script. And second of all, I'm allowed to change my mind, aren't I?"

"Good point."

"Good night, Chat Noire," she said softly, with much more affection than she had ever heard Marinette direct to her specifically. "Sleep tight."

"I'll try, Princesse."

Marinette stood up straight and turned, giving one more flippant wink before climbing up to her bed and tucking herself in.

Right before she fell into a warm and comfortable slumber, she suddenly realized what her nightmare had been last night: the one that had scared her out of her wits and made her, for the first time, glad to wake up and eager to escape the horrid REM cycle.

She had lost Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters have been getting progressively longer
> 
> like I think the first one was 2k, the second was 4k, the third was 6k, and this one is 7k
> 
> so you guys get an extra-long chapter because I couldn't find anywhere to cut it off from the beginning until the end of Chat Noire's second night with the Dupain-Chengs (psst they s h i p it) (and so do I) (I'm rapidly becoming obsessed with marichat help)
> 
> I had the opportunity to copy and paste the entire bee movie script three times so you all are lucky I didn't just saying


	5. Wish I Could Be... Part Of Your World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrienne is secretly a Disney princess. Also, Ladrienne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BE WARNED: there will be more intense language in this chapter, and blood mentions/gore, so if that makes you uncomfortable, please skip this chapter! it's not really that important to the storyline. (mostly just wanted to write some ladrienne sorry)
> 
> also, this is like a throwback to the tangled au I wrote once wow

Ooh, shit.

Adrienne rarely swore. Her mother disapproved of it, and her father downright forbade it. But all things considered, there probably wasn't another sentence that so acutely described her emotions right now.

Okay, maybe there was, but "ooh, shit" was the first that came to mind.

Fuck.

That felt good.

She groaned into her pillow. Fucking hell. Marinette, the stupid vixen, was going to cause her death. What was she thinking? Chat Noire loved Ladybug. Adrienne loved Ladybug, and all the kisses and flirting in the world couldn't change that.

Except that it totally could, because right now, Adrienne was in painful- agonizing- conflict about her feelings over Marinette. The whole Spin the Bottle ordeal had been confusing enough, but now she not only knew Marinette had a major crush on her, she had also been kissed again, this time as Chat Noire. Which, for someone with teenage hormones running rampant, is not a favorable situation.

She kind of wanted to tell Marinette the truth. No, scratch that. She completely, wholeheartedly, absolutely wanted to tell her the truth. She just wanted to hop into Marinette's room and detransform, and it would all come tumbling out. She was, like, 90% sure that Marinette would support her, and whatnot. If it weren't for the stupid identity oath that she and Ladybug had sworn to, and for her stupid father, whom she hadn't even seen since before the sleepover...

On top of all that, the snow had finally cleared and it was now the weekend, giving her plenty of time to become adequately confused and frustrated at her own house instead of Marinette's. 

Despite all the rest she had finally obtained, her brain was still pretty scattered. She at least had remembered to take Marinette's designs from her house so she could practice transforming into them at home.

She was half tempted to make Plagg give her booty shorts and thigh highs. Maybe a few chains for the fun of it. Imagine if she showed up to the Ladynoire gala in that. Ladybug would probably be scandalized. 

She took a deep breath and stood in front of the mirror. "Plagg, transform me!"

She did a little Sailor Moon dance as Plagg granted very long black leather boots unto her, along with black leather gloves of a similar length. The bodice, accompanied by a belt and a probably indecent-length skirt, practically wrapped around her.

"I'm a magical girl," she said quietly.

The video intercom crackled to life. "Adrien?"

She quickly detransformed and shut the notebook.

Her father's face appeared on the screen. "I'd like an explanation as to why you disappeared for entire day without notifying me."

"Um... I... it just slipped my mind," she lied. Oh, no. If her father was talking to her instead of Nathalie, she was really major-league screwed. "I-"

"Do you remember what our agreement was?" Gabriel's head asked patronizingly. "I asked very little of you."

Right. Very little, like suppressing a major part of my identity and keeping tabs on me at all times, twenty-four seven, with severe repercussions if I were so much as 5 minutes late.

"Father, please-"

"And as promised, this is grounds for a few days' suspension."

"But- I've already missed a day of school because of the snow day!" she protested. 

He raised an eyebrow. "I am aware. You will make up for your missed school here, under Nathalie's supervision. I'm not going to make exceptions, Adrien, I made the conditions very clear."

"Father, please! Can I just spend my weekend here and go to school as normal on Monday?"

"I don't think that would sufficiently teach you the lesson that you apparently need reminding of. No, you will not return to your school until Thursday."

"Father-"

"My decision is final." The call ended without another word.

She sighed and collapsed in front of the mirror. Plagg poked back out of the trash bin. "Do you want to try the transformation again?"

"Sure," she sighed. "Plagg, transform me."

Magical girls didn't have to listen to their fathers. Sailor Moon did whatever the hell she pleased. 

So could Chat Noire.

She practiced climbing around her room and vaulting off the rock-climbing wall in her modified outfit for several hours. For every wall she kicked off of, she imagined it was her father's stupid ugly face. It was a very satisfying exercise; perhaps too satisfying.

She finally stopped her training when she got a voice call from Nino, pausing to pick it up.

"Hey!" she greeted, a breathy sort of exhale accompanying the word.

"Hey, dude. Where were you yesterday? You didn't pick up at all."

"Oh! Yeah, I was... at a friend's house. I left my phone at home." Technically, that was all true. "Sorry if I worried you."

"Naw, man. It's cool. Oh, man, did you hear what happened with Marinette?"

Chat Noire's heart skipped a beat-- which was really annoying, because she didn't love Marinette. "Wh- what happened?"

"Dude, really? It was so crazy! Chat Noire got snowed in at her house and they spent the entire day together!" Nino was nearly cackling. "Apparently she kept trying to recite the Bee Movie script."

No regrets, Adrienne thought, after a wave of relief washed over her. Marinette was fine. It was just superhero gossip. "Wow. That's... that's pretty cool."

"Yeah, and she even called her clementine, I think. It's so crazy, you'll have to let her tell you all about it!"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, well-" She began to pace around her room. The leather was growing uncomfortably hot on her skin, which was weird, because she wasn't even in sunlight. "-here's... there's a thing about that... I won't be in school on Monday. Or... or Tuesday."

"What? Dude, really?" The disappointment in Nino's voice was nearly tangible. "Why not?"

"Stuff with my dad. You know, the usual."

"Oh." While Nino wasn't as acutely aware of Mr. Agreste's smothering tendencies as Adrienne was, he still got that he was pretty darn strict. "That sucks, mate."

"Yeah, but I'm used to it," Chat Noire sighed. "Tell the others I said hi, okay?"

"You got it, bro. Hey, do you want to talk to Alya? She's right here."

"Um..."

"No, tell Marinette first!" Alya's voice countered in the background. "She'll want to know right away!"

"Okay," Nino responded, and said into the microphone, "I'll call you back. Let me just tell Marinette you won't be at school 'til Thursday, so she won't be surprised."

"Cool," Chat Noire panted. The leather was really searing into her skin. Why was it so hot?

Maybe that was the price of being a magical girl.

The phone beeped quietly once to signify that the call had ended. She set her phone down and looked wistfully out the window. She was going from magical girl to Disney princess.

Wouldn't you think I'm the girl  
The girl who has everything?

She sure had everything, everything material that she could possibly want and that could possibly be bought. She knew people all over the city envied her spacious room and her expensive wardrobe. They coveted her life. She coveted theirs. 

Wandering free, wish I could be part of that world...

She could really only wander free as Chat Noire, couldn't she?

Wait, no, she was a lot more like Rapunzel than Ariel. What were some good Tangled lyrics that accurately represented her malaise?

She turned around, back to window to ponder this- until she heard a faint tapping sound from the window.  She swiftly turned around and nearly collapsed.

It was Ladybug.

She considered her options. The most plausible was to let Ladybug in and come up with some excuse as to why Chat Noire was in Adrienne's room when Adrienne wasn't even present. 

She could detransform right in front of Ladybug's eyes as an explanation, but that might be mentally traumatizing. Ladybug having to know that Adrienne spent her free time walking around in a sexy leather cat suit?

She could also start reciting the Bee Movie script again.

The first option seemed the best. She opened the window and allowed Ladybug in.

"Chat Noire, do you know where-" Ladybug, who had previously seemed pretty distracted, finally looked at her outfit. Her face shifted into an expression of terror. "What on Earth are you wearing?"

"Um." She had forgotten that she was wearing the "better" version of her suit. 

"And where is Adrien?"

"Oh! Adrienne- I mean, Adrien!" She bit her lip. "She's- he's-" Oh, God, why was she messing up pronouns now, of all times? "He's, uh, he's here. I was visiting her- I mean, him." 

"Visiting," Ladybug repeated, the skepticism in voice hard to miss. 

"Y-yes. He seemed like- okay, well, I-" She tried for a smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "Can I answer the first question first?"

"If you must."

"So- so, there's this girl, her name's Marinette, right? A- and, okay, you know the Ladynoire gala? Coming up in a month or so?"

Ladybug nodded slowly, still wearing that puzzled face. God, she was cute.

"Right, so Marinette, she- she created some designs for- for us to wear- oh, wait, you know that," she interrupted herself. "Did you like yours?"

"You're changing the topic," Ladybug pressed.

"Okay, okay, yes. So I took home her ideas for my design and I was practicing transforming into them, and I got a little... carried away."

"Evidently. You look like Sailor Moon if her outfit was black."

"I even did the dance transforming."

"You're such a dork," Ladybug sighed. "Imagine what Marinette would say if she knew you abused her designs like this."

"Hey, it could've been worse. I was considering wearing chains." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Ladybug grew pale. "That would be utterly horrifying."

"I think the word you're looking for is sexy."

"That would be an antonym for the word I am looking for." She tilted her head. "Can you answer my second question now?"

"Oh! Yes, the whole thing with, uh, with A- Adrien." It took plenty of willpower to pronounce it the male way. "Right, so h-he's, um, he's here, he's just not- not here here."

"Please elaborate."

"Like, he's... um, he's with his dad right now. He invited me over but he had to leave to, um... yeah. He'll, uh- he'll be here soon." She was so hot and sweaty. Her forehead was salty and damp. "Adrien, he's, uh- in the house, but not in his room. I was just hanging out with him. He's a pretty chill gal. Um, guy."

"'Chill,'" Ladybug echoed. 

"Yes." The quippy banter that they had kept up so easily was quickly becoming awkward and stiff. 

"Okay, because... I love you, Chat Noire, but I came to Adrien's house to see Adrien." She fixed aquamarine irises on Chat Noire's soft viridescent eyes. 

"You love me?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Ladybug groaned. 

"You looove me," Chat Noire sang. "I looooove you, you loooooove me, we're in loooooooove." She pranced around her room and broke into song. "Can you feel the love tonight? You needn't look too far, stealing through the night's uncertainties, love is where they are..."

"You're such a dork," Ladybug sighed again. "Why do I even bother with you?"

"Because you loooove me," Chat Noire grinned. 

"Really, where is Adrien? Is he coming?"

"Yes! Hang on, let me get him. Then I'll leave you two alone, you crazy lovebirds."

"What? 'Crazy lovebirds?'"

"Oh, it's no secret you're here for him. And he just happens to have a little crush on you." What the hell? Why was she calling herself out like this? What did she stand to gain?

Oh, well, too late now.

"A- Adrien-" Poor Ladybug was now rendered essentially speechless. "He- he, uh- has a- on me- he-"

"Told you, you're a crazy lovebird. Au revoir, My Lady!" She left through the window Ladybug had entered through, and went all the way around the house to the front and detransformed, walking up to her room. 

When she cracked the door open, it was hard to suppress a giggle. Ladybug was positively red, nearly immobile in her place on Adrienne's floor.

She did her best to act surprised. "Oh! Ladybug! I, uh, didn't see you-" She gulped. "Is- is something wrong?"

"What? No, not at all!" Ladybug stammered. "I, um... just wanted to check in on you."

"Um... okay," she said, entering her room and shutting the door behind herself. "Well, uh... here I am."

"Y-yes." Ladybugs's fingers were trembling. "I saw Chat Noire earlier, and- uh- she's, um-"

"Did you see that suit she was wearing?" Adrienne giggled. "She's too much."

Ladybug let out a small chuckle. "Yeah... I don't know what goes on inside her head." She blinked once. "Why was she here, exactly? She didn't really explain when I was talking to her."

"Oh, she's... um... she was, uh, also checking in on me. Yeah."

Ladybug's head listed to the left slightly. "Really? What did she need that suit for?"

"I, uh... that's a question for her, but I think she got bored while my dad called for me and decided to practice transforming. I saw her on her way out."

"What if you walked in on her transforming, though?"

"It wouldn't matter, I know who she is," Adrienne answered without thinking.

"You, uh- you-"

In that moment, Adrienne realized that she had probably just made a big mistake.

"It- she chose to confide in me," she tried to amend, to no significant effect. "Really, it's, uh, it's okay. She felt like it would be better if I knew."

"But... you really know her real identity?"

"Yeah. I think I'm the only one who does, though," she said quickly. "We're, like, really good friends... we tell each other everything."

Ladybug mumbled something that sounded similar to "Like the kiss."

"Sorry, what?"

"Oh, uh- it's nothing. How did you guys meet?"

"I don't even remember. It just happened."

"Okay, because... I know not to believe anything she says, ever, but earlier she said something about- about you, and I just- does she make stuff up like that often?"

"I don't know what she said, but she almost never makes stuff up. I've noticed that sometimes when she says something as a joke, she really means it and just feels like she can't say it seriously."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's- a thing of hers. Don't tell her I said that, though. She'd probably be pretty embarrassed if you knew how serious she really was when she flirts with you."

Ladybug's face seemed to take on a tinge of green. "You mean, she's-"

CRASH. The window shattered and splintered into hundreds of tiny shards of glass. Adrienne reacted on impulse and tackled Ladybug to the ground, preventing her from becoming a human glass-kabob. 

"Adrien," Ladybug breathed, "you-"

"Watch out, My Lady!" she yelled, moving her out of the way of another broken window. "I think it's an Akuma attack and it's here for you." I was not supposed to say "My Lady." That's Chat Noire's thing! I'm so screwed!

"A-Adrien, I-"

"Ladybug, show yourself!" the Akumatized victim bellowed, from outside Adrienne's window. 

"Shut up!" Adrienne yelled back, all traces of nervousness around her Lady rapidly disappearing. 

"Adrien, let me-" she began, but Adrienne was already running to the window and attempting to bash the Akuma's head in with her foot.

"What are you doing here?" the Akuma sneered, dodging Adrienne's shoe easily. "Pathetic. Move out of the way and let the superheroes fight."

Adrienne was prepared to demonstrate exactly how misinformed the Akuma was, but felt a thin wire wrapping around her waist and tugging her backwards.

"My- uh, Ladybug, what are you-"

"She's right," Ladybug said firmly. "Let me handle this. Stay here." She released the yo-yo from Adrienne's waist and jumped out the window, chasing after the Akuma, who was now flying away.

Adrienne felt hot anger and revenge roiling inside her. Transforming into her regular Chat Noire suit, she followed Ladybug out the window, chasing her over rooftops.

"Chat Noire!" Ladybug acknowledged, finally coming to a stop on some random civilian's house. "Glad to see you're wearing something a little more tasteful."

"There wasn't any time. What's the Akuma's name?"

"I'm not sure, but Adrien was right. She's here for me. Not sure exactly what I did, though."

"Oh, you didn't do anything," the Akuma snarled, appearing suddenly behind them. "But it's as bad as if you did."

"That makes no sense," Chat Noire complained. 

"It makes perfect sense!" the Akuma snapped. "I was told I would never be as good savior as Ladybug. I was fired from my job as a sentry. Now I'll prove that I can protect everyone-- from you!"

"But I didn't do anything!" Ladybug insisted.

"Keep telling yourself that," the Akuma sneered. "I am going to save the entire city, right now, and everyone will know my name: their Guardian Angel!"

"That explains the outfit," Chat Noire muttered to Ladybug. "I thought she was just a chicken." 

"Shh," Ladybug chastised. "Come on, those wings don't even look like chicken wings."

The Guardian Angel took out a many-stringed bow and nocked an arrow.

"My Lady!" Chat gasped, and shoved her to the side.

"I was handling it," Ladybug grumbled. "You're as bad as Adrien." She looked over to Chat Noire. "You know, he used your nickname for me today. You've got some competition."

"Right, yes, cool," Chat Noire rushed, watching Guardian Angel flying away with glee. "Look, that Akuma is clearly convinced that you're some demon or something, and she's trying to get you. Please be careful, she's-"

"You're worrying too much, Chat Noire." Ladybug took out her yo-yo. "I've got it under control." She swung after Guardian Angel. 

Chat had no choice but to follow, ducking under arrow after arrow. 

The Akuma finally stopped to face them. "Aw, how cute! Are you volunteering for your swift and easy demise? Or should I say, deliverance?" She sheathed the arrow in the quiver and began playing her bow as a harp.

"What are you even..." Chat Noire began, and  
then stopped. Her eyes were becoming heavy, and she felt her legs trembling and morphing into jelly. She had to fight to work off a yawn. 

"Chat Noire, stay awake!" Ladybug urged, supporting her partner under her arms. "We can't let her..."

A sinister smile was carved into Guardian Angel's face as she withdrew an arrow and surgically, skillfully nocked it while she was playing the soft tune. The music had made Chat Noire so drowsy, she didn't even notice.

Until she saw the arrow slicing towards her Lady. On impulse, she stiffened and moved quickly, in front of Ladybug. A primal urge coursed through her veins, enforcing one objective: protect Ladybug.

"Cataclysm!" she cried, reaching for the arrow and crushing it in her fingers. She didn't notice the second arrow, whistling through the air and embedding itself Chat Noire's chest. The air turned to molasses as she slowly, painfully slowly, fell off the roof and into the street, connecting with something solid at last as she collapsed with a CRUNCH against the hard concrete. 

She groaned as time returned to normal. Her chest throbbed painfully, she was pretty sure she had broken something, and Ladybug was fending for herself.

She forced herself to get up. The effort was excruciating, but she somehow managed. Her back ached, pounding through her head, thundering and insistent.

"Ch- Chat Noire!" one small child cried out, tugging away from his parent's grasp to see her.

She rubbed her head, coughed once. Looked around frantically. "L-Ladybug? Is she okay?"

"Your head is bleeding," the child said in wonder.

She lifted a hand to her skull. It came away red and wet. "So it is."

He tilted his head. "Are you okay?"

"Probably not."

"There's an arrow in your chest."

She looked down. She had forgotten to take the arrow out. "Good observation."

"Anthony!" the mother scolded, regaining control over her son at last. To Chat Noire, she said apologetically, "I'm very sorry, Mademoiselle. He loves superheroes, and-"

"Maman, she's hurt," Anthony whined. "Help her."

"Honey, we're already late to your violin lesson."

"She's bleeding. She fell off a roof." Anthony pulled on his mother's arm.

"Sweetie-"

"She has an arrow in her."

"It's okay, Madame," Chat Noire lied, struggling to her feet. "It's part of the job. I'll be fine." She patted Anthony's arm weakly. "Thank you..."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked, looking up at her with innocent brown eyes.

"No. But I probably will, and that's the important part." She waved good-bye to Anthony and his mother, and tried her best to locate Ladybug.

She dug out her baton and tried to use her GPS system. Her vision was blurry, fading in and out of focus, and she had accidentally stained the screen red when she touched it. The flashing paw did not help matters. There were too many lines and it didn't make any sense.

Sheathing her baton, she attempted to scale a building wall to get a better view. After falling down four times, she gave up.

Chat Noire hated feeling so useless. Her job was to protect Ladybug (it was actually to protect Paris and the rest of the world, but Ladybug was her whole world), and now that she couldn't see straight and every movement sent ripples of pain through her body, she felt like she was a failure.

She realized that every breath was painful, too. The arrow must have punctured her lung or something,

Fantastic.

What was the use of a superhero who couldn't fight?

She mulled over her options. She could seek medical attention: precious time away from Ladybug, and it would probably be fixed by the Miraculous Cure if Ladybug completed the fight. She could keep trying to find Ladybug: probably a lot of blood loss in vain. 

Or she could sit and wait.

Staggering into an empty alley, her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the ground, not noticing the sharp shards of glass that she was lying on. 

Just before the world went black, she had one clear, lucid thought: I am not going to die.

________________________________

Upon opening her eyes, she realized that she wasn't covered in blood anymore. The arrow was gone, and the wound looked suspiciously clean.

She sat up. "Wh- what-"

"You sure took your sweet time," Plagg sniffed, rooting through the trashcan.

"Plagg? Why are you-" She looked down at her hands. They were bare and covered in what looked like glass scratches. "I'm... I'm not-"

"Yeah, it's been way more than five minutes. I had no choice. Plus, Ladybug used the Miraculous Cure. You're probably fine."

She stretched, and then winced. "Yeah. Fine."

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm lying on glass," Adrienne said scathingly.

"Oh, I forgot how weak humans are." Plagg paused, ears pricked. "Ladybug's coming."

"Hide! Hide!" Adrienne urged, opening her jacket. 

Plagg darted inside. She did her best to look like an innocent bystander as Ladybug landed in the alley and immediately ran to go check on her. 

"Adrien, what happened?" she fretted, looking over the scratches Adrienne had sustained.

"Oh, um... Guardian Angel put me to sleep with the harp, and I fell onto the glass. It's okay, though," she added quickly. "I'm really fine."

"Are you sure?" Ladybug's worried expression began to shift into one of accusation. "Didn't I tell you to stay at your house?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"This is what happens when you don't listen," Ladybug chided. "You get cut by glass in an abandoned and probably unsanitary alley."

"That's oddly specific."

Ladybug cocked an eyebrow. "But it's true, isn't it?"

"Fine. I'm sorry." Her eyes darted up to meet Ladybug's and she was again reminded of how very blue they were. Comme un ciel d'été. They were such a nice shade of cobalt. 

"Apology accepted." Ladybug helped her up and steadied her. "Did you see Chat Noire, by any chance?"

"Wh- oh, yes, I saw her!" Adrienne fibbed, doing her best to sound credible. "She's detransformed now, but she's fine. I promise."

"Good. I was starting to worry about that dumb cat. She's so stupid. What was she thinking? I had it under control," Ladybug grumbled, trying in vain to hide her hidden affection for her partner. "Seriously, she jumped right in front of me and got hit by an arrow. She'd waste all nine of her lives in an hour if she really had them."

"Well, you have to give her some credit," Adrienne protested. "Didn't she stop one of the arrows?"

"Yeah, and then she fell off a roof," Ladybug snorted, escorting Adrienne out of the alley. 

"Fair enough." Adrienne followed her obediently through the streets. "You don't have to do this, you know. You're going to detransform soon, aren't you?"

"Yes, but... it's okay," Ladybug assured, with a little smile. "I want to make sure you'll get home safely." She looked down at the glass wounds. "Since you can't seem to take care of yourself." 

"Hey, come on!"

"Quickly." Ladybug put her arm around Adrienne's waist and carried her, with the assistance of her yo-yo, to the mansion. Adrienne felt every breath, and every heartbeat, all too well. Ladybug was so close. Her face was so red. 

How was she so great? Was there anything Ladybug couldn't do? Adrienne felt so immensely lucky to know that she was the one who got to fight by Ladybug's side, and that the position was reserved for her alone.

Ladybug swung through the window like Spider-Man, Adrienne in tow. She deposited Adrienne on her floor.

"Are you positive you're okay?" Ladybug persisted. "Those scratches look-"

"I'm fine," Adrienne cut her off. If she could get hit with an arrow and fall off a roof, she could handle a little glass.

"And you said Chat Noire was okay?" Ladybug continued. "Like, the Miraculous Cure-"

"It took care of everything," Adrienne reiterated. "Ladybug, please, you're going to detransform in a minute."

Ladybug instinctively reached a hand to her earrings. She still seemed reluctant to go. "I... I'll see you around, then." She backed carefully towards the window.

"Wait! One thing," Adrienne said, stopping Ladybug.

"What?"

Adrienne gently put a hand on Ladybug's shoulder and give her a gentle smooch. She couldn't help herself. "Stay safe, okay?"

Ladybug's eyes widened, her pupils contracted. Her cheeks flushed a dark shade of crimson. Her mouth dropped open ever so slightly. 

"I... yes," she said shakily, taking another step backwards shakily. Then two more. "I'll... absolutely..." The steps became more rapid and numerous. "-safe, I- no, I-" She tripped on the pane of the window and nearly fell out into the street, catching herself at the last moment.

"Good-bye, Ladybug!" Adrienne called, watching Ladybug's path through the city.

She wondered what exactly she had done to fluster Ladybug like that. This was the first time they had met, wasn't it? Why was Ladybug so much more awkward around Adrienne than Chat Noire?

Was she scared of her?

Adrienne realized, rather suddenly, that Ladybug exhibited very similar behavior around her as Marinette did. And Marinette had said to Chat Noire that she had a major crush on Adrienne.

So did Ladybug have a crush on Adrienne?

Adrienne grabbed the nearest pillow she could find and screamed into it. Her Ladybug, her sun and her moon and her whole universe, having a crush on her?

She couldn't possibly fathom it, and yet it had been staring her in the face the whole time.

Ladybug had a crush on her.

What was more, Ladybug knew that Adrienne had a crush on her. Was that why she seemed so taken aback learning it? Because the feeling was entirely mutual?

In fact, was that why Ladybug was so reluctant to leave when she was about to detransform? Did she really want Adrienne to know who she was? 

Oh, no. What had she done? Adrienne had prompted her to leave, and the process missed out on learning the identity of her Lady. 

This all really was like a Disney movie; just a lot more confusing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAVE YOU GUYS REALIZED THAT THIS COMPLETES THE LOVE SQUARE????? they've all kissed each other now... I mean not really ladynoire but you'll get PLENTY of that in the next chapter because LADYNOIRE GALA! chapter six! look forward to it, folks!
> 
> I was planning to make this longer and give it some angst, but I was really eager to write chapter six so I'm leaving it here. your angst will come later. there WILL be angst, I know the last chapter will have a shit ton of angst. I'll try to write some before then, but know that you'll at least get some at the end.
> 
> yeah, this was the obligatory ladrienne chapter; I love ladrienne too much not to write it. just a little fluff for you all before the gala (☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞


	6. The (After) Life Of The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noire attend a party thrown just for them and holy CRAP Adrienne is a lightweight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so while this should technically be under "underage drinking," im pretending that Paris' drinking age is still sixteen becAUSE DRUNK!CHAT WAS SO VITAL TO THIS CHAPTER WOW I LOVE HER SO MUCH
> 
> so like in last chapter, if that bothers you, skip this one! This is personally my favorite chapter so far besides chapter 4 and I'd say it's fairly important but if "underage" drinking (ssssHSHSHSHSSSsssh) makes you uncomfortable, that comes first! skip it!
> 
> you may notice that the way I have written this, it does take place in late 2015/early 2016, i.e. right now; since I say Adrienne's birthday is November of 1999, and that she'd be sixteen, and that its sometime in February when the gala happens (ladybug says five months), the drinking age should technically be 18. I'm just going to say this is an au in which Paris' drinking age is still 16 even in 2016. like I said earlier, I am SUCH A SLUT FOR DRUNK!CHAT AND THE CHAPTER DEPENDS ON IT JESUS SHE'S SO PURE I LIVE FOR IT
> 
> also look out you got some SERIOUS ANGST coming your way at the end

The Ladynoire gala was rapidly arriving, and Adrienne couldn't keep her nerves under control. 

She still hadn't perfected her transformation into Marinette's design, she couldn't act normally around Ladybug anymore now that she was so astutely aware of their feelings for each other, and she was generally a train wreck. Emotionally, not physically. Her father saw to that. 

She had planned this out perfectly: she had a photoshoot the afternoon that the gala took place, and she would ask for her makeup artists to fix her up a little more to her liking immediately afterwards. Then she would "go home," transform into Chat Noire, and attend the gala with Ladybug. Pose for photos with the civilians. Be a judge in some contests, whatever the hell the event called for.

All the same, she was convinced something, sometime, somewhere, would go wrong. Maybe she'd detransform by accident? Or she'd cause an Akuma attack? Who knew?

To her utter distress, she found out the next day that the entire class, except for herself and Marinette, was attending. Even the teachers. Even Ivan, who never attended anything willingly.

And she, as Chat Noire, had agreed to meet as many of the (reasonable) demands of the civilians. She might have to hug Chloe or something, if she asked for it.

Her classmates noticed her jittery behavior. Nino was the first.

"Dude, you're shaking the table," he said, and Adrienne realized that she was trembling so hard that she was, indeed, shaking the table.

She tried for a winning smile. "Oh, yeah... I guess I'm nervous for the photoshoot."

"You're never nervous for your photoshoots," Nino pointed out.

"Yeah, well... you know."

Nino nodded. He did know.

She kept coming back to the dress. She was so scared that she wouldn't be able to transform into it properly, and that she'd wrong Marinette, and she'd be the worst friend ever. (She didn't need to worry; Chloe had already taken that title. Nonetheless, she was pretty stressed.)

Was she ever not stressed?

The end of the day could not come fast enough. 

She initially thought that tomorrow couldn't come fast enough, either, but when tomorrow actually came, she found herself wishing it had come a lot slower. It was Saturday, meaning that she had to wake up extra-early and spend several hours prepping herself to look poster-ready. Then her stylists would spend several more hours making her look even more poster-ready. Then she would have to drive to the site of the photoshoot, wait around a few more hours while everything was set up, then actually do the photoshoot, which was the most taxing of all. It was a lot more than just posing. 

It ended at five in the afternoon. She had spent all day on this. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home.

Then, of course, she had to sneak off to get her gala makeup done, try not to face people in general too much, and eat dinner without smudging her lipstick. The gala was supposed to start at six-thirty.

She just barely made it in time, after a lot of trial and error transforming, and leapt back to the Place de Vosges, which was their meeting spot.

Naturally, several reporters were waiting for her at the park, clamoring for photos and asking questions.

"Chat Noire, what are your opinions on this whole event?"

"Who tailored your dress? Do they know your identity?"

"Have you kissed Ladybug?"

"Will you kiss me?"

"SIGN MY FACE!"

"I- please," she said, backing up a little. "I just want to find-" 

She was about to make a run for it when she saw a familiar face popping out of the crowd. Its owner was a young boy. It was Anthony.

"Chat Noire!" he shouted, running to her. "Mama made me go to violin! Are you okay? You didn't say earlier."

She didn't mean to smile; it just appeared on her face, at the sweetness of this little boy. "Yes, I'm really fine, I promise. The Miraculous Cure fixed everything. I'm good as new. See?" She pointed to her not-shot-through-with-an-arrow chest.

Anthony gasped a little, grinning. "You're okay!"

"Yes, I'm fine," she repeated, still smiling somehow. He was utterly adorable.

She would continue to talk to him if she could've, but the reporters were getting restless, she could tell. She could almost hear their nettled remarks about how Chat Noire would strike up a conversation with a regular six- or seven-year-old, but wouldn't answer a few simple questions for their channel.

"It's been lovely talking, but I think I have to find-" She caught a glimpse of red and black. "Ladybug!"

The yelling and excitement dulled into conspiratory murmurs as Ladybug drifted gracefully through the crowd, wearing Marinette's dress with serenity. Her lips were painted vibrant red, making those cerulean eyes pop. She glowed, almost goddess-like.

"Good to see you, mon minou," she said softly.

"You too, Buginette." Chat Noire gently and tenderly kissed Ladybug's nose. The reporters went nuts and snapped photos in surplus.

She took Chat Noire's arm. "Come here for a moment. I have something I want to show you." 

She dragged Chat to the fountain and opened her cupped hands. "Her name's Tikki."

Chat Noire's eyes lit up in wonder. It was a little red kwami, with two antennae and a pair of little wings. She looked like Plagg, except her eyes were slightly larger, blue, and had whites. She looked positively ecstatic to meet Chat Noire at last.

"Hello, Tikki," Chat Noire said in awe, stroking Tikki's head. The kwami giggled.

"It's nice to meet you," Tikki said sweetly.

"The pleasure is all mine," Chat Noire replied swiftly.

Tikki laughed again. "I can feel Plagg in you. I get why he chose you now."

"Why is that?"

"Well, you're alike, but not too alike," Tikki explained. "That's a thing about choosing our hosts. They have to be a perfect balance of somewhat like us, and yet not like entirely like us."

"Can you... can you feel Plagg right now? Can you sense him?"

"I almost always can," Tikki revealed. "We communicate telepathically."

"What is he saying to you now?"

Tikki paused. "He says... he's saying hello to me, and he..." Her face shifted. "Plagg, I'm not saying that out loud! What are you thinking?"

"What did he say?"

"If I told you, you'd know her identity," Tikki said, with a gesture towards Ladybug.

"Wait a minute, if you can sense him, does that mean that... you know Chat Noire's real identity? Like... you can sense him when she's not transformed, so you can sense her when she's not..." Ladybug seemed pale. "Oh my god, you know her identity."

"I'm sure Plagg knows yours, too, then," Chat Noire said dryly. 

Tikki waited and listened. "He's laughing right now."

"Of course he is. Well, it was nice meeting you, Tikki. Maybe someday, you'll be able to meet Plagg," she suggested to Ladybug, knowing that it was impossible until Ladybug knew her true identity.

Tikki nodded. "You too!" She sat on Ladybug's shoulders. "Shall we transform, then?"

"Wait, what? Who said anything about transforming?"

"Well, I can't very well leap across rooftops or run up walls if I'm not transformed, can I?"

"Well, no, but it'd be a shame to have to cover up that pretty dress. Here, allow me." Chat Noire lifted Ladybug into her arms, carrying her just as Marinette had carried Chat Noire a few weeks ago: lying across her arms, supported at the bend of the knees and the back. Ladybug's cheeks might've reddened, but she had applied dramatic blush to accentuate her outfit, so it was hard to tell.

"Hold on tight, My Lady!" Chat Noire gave a little hup as she leapt from the top of the fountain to one of the roofs on the nearby buildings. Sprinting as fast as she could while carrying another person, she made her way to the Grand Paris within minutes.

Depositing Ladybug on the ground, she pulled up her gloves and took Ladybug's hand.

"Your dress was surprisingly light," she whispered. "It was like I wasn't even carrying anything."

"Yeah, I designed it to be light," Ladybug whispered back. "I thought it would be nicer to wear for hours if it were comfortable."

"You designed it?"

Ladybug blanched. "Marinette! I meant Marinette!"

There were even more reporters at the actual event. They asked the usual questions, and Chat Noire did her best to answer, but the real deal were the fans.

They screamed upon sight and rushed over to the superheroes, begging for autographs and taking selfies. Chat Noire was happy to comply, knowing that she'd look absolutely fabulous.

Chloe, of course, was convinced that because the event was hosted in her daddy's hotel, she was relevant somehow. She sauntered up to Chat Noire, curling her hair around her finger. 

"It's so nice of you to come here," Chloe simpered. "I know my daddy's very pleased."

"I'm glad to hear it," Chat Noire replied sardonically.

"You know, Ladybug and I are best friends," she drawled, batting her eyelashes. "So by extension, that makes us best friends, too."

"Your mental prowess is truly astounding," she responded acerbically.

"Will you answer a question for me?"

"Sure," Chat Noire sighed.

"Are you and Ladybug dating?"

She looked up in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"Because... I don't know, she's kind of pretty." Chloe stopped twirling her hair. "I guess... it's not like I want to date her, or anything. But she's... there's a reason I'm her biggest fan." She gave a wistful smile. "You know?"

"You seem ashamed to admit it."

"Well, I'm not gay!" Chloe spat, with what seemed like unwarranted ferocity. "I don't want to... I mean, I'm still straight. I haven't told anyone. Just you, because I felt like I could trust you."

"There's nothing wrong with being gay, Chloe."

"Yeah, but..." She looked away. "Okay, can I tell you something?"

"Go for it."

"My dad... he doesn't want me dating girls. He's not... homophobic, but sometimes it wears me out and I take it out on other people." Her eyes shifted to meet Chat Noire's. "I've never told anyone this."

"But you said you weren't-"

"I'm not!" Chloe bit her lip. "I mean... I like boys too."

"But you said you weren't straight."

"But I like boys."

"That makes you bisexual. Which is not straight."

"But if I were dating a boy..."

"You'd still be bisexual. Which is still not straight."

"Ugh! Please." Chloe gripped her head. "You know what, it's your night. I'm sure lots of people want your autograph or whatever." She began to walk away, then turned around. "And don't tell anyone about this. Please."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Chloe nodded curtly, and started talking it up with other partygoers. Chat Noire was still rooted in place. She had always dismissed Chloe's brattiness as part of a character flaw, and that it was engrained in her. She just thought that Chloe was a generally unpleasant person, but this new light caused her to reevaluate her judgment.

Of course, Chloe's conflicts didn't justify her actions. Even if you were really hurting inside, or you were having a really hard time at home, you shouldn't make fun of people for being scared, or call their belongings trash, or get up in people's business if they wanted personal space. However, Chloe's confession gave Chat Noire a little more empathy for the girl.

She continued to meet with her fans, signing things and having conversations and answering questions. Eventually, it got to that part of the night when everyone started getting giggly and outrageous and the lines of what was a reasonable request started to blur. Chat Noire, having turned 16 a few months ago, joined in with several civilians in taking advantage of Mr. Bourgeois' expensive and extensive wine selection. She had never had wine before, but with a single drop her tongue was buzzing. She only had to take a few sips before she was intoxicated.

After that, she barely remembered any of the photos taken or any of the citizens she met. She was lightheaded, drunk both literally and with giddiness. She staggered to Ladybug much later, at around 10, and started giggling uncontrollably, stroking Ladybug's hair. "My Lady, have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Ladybug sighed with exasperation. "Chat Noire, are you old enough to be getting drunk?"

She hiccuped. "I'm not drunk." 

"Yes, you are. Answer the question."

"Fine. Yes, I am."

"Yes, you are drunk?"

"No, yes, I am old enough to be drunk. Which I'm not." 

"You clearly are. And I'm not so sure I believe you, anyway. When's your birthday?"

She had to think about that for a moment. "Um. September 21st?"

Ladybug jolted backwards. "You, uh..."

She stifled a burp. "What?"

Ladybug's posture was stiff, but she blinked and then relaxed. "Oh, never mind. You silly kitty, you're so drunk that you confused your birthday with Adrien's."

"I did not," Chat Noire insisted, very stupidly, but also very drunkenly. "I was born..." She hiccuped again. "...at 5:18 in the morning... on September 21st, 1999."

Ladybug sighed. "Well, either that's a really weird coincidence, or you just can't remember your own birthday. Never mind, I believe you. Have you never had wine before, or something?"

Chat Noire leaned back. "My... My Lady! That would be illegal, right?"

"Not really. That's five months in which you could've drunk whatever you wanted. If you really were born in September."

"I was," Chat Noire declared, caressing Ladybug's soft cheek.

"You're, uh... really tipsy, aren't you? How much did you drink?"

"A quarter bottle."

"Wow."

"Don't get on my case about drinking too much, My Lady," Chat Noire continued, grabbing the bottle. "Here, you know what? Come share some with me. It's good."

"No thanks, chaton. I'm not sixteen yet."

"Aw, Buginette..." Chat Noire smiled. "I'm older than you."

"You're also several inches taller, after all."

"That's right, isn't it?" Chat Noire went for another sip of wine, but Ladybug snatched the bottle away. 

"No, no, no more wine for you, minou," Ladybug chastised, setting it away. "You're quite drunk enough already."

"I'm not drunk." She stared into Ladybug's eyes. The world shifted, titled, distorted, blurred. Ladybug was the only constant variable. She was so gosh darn pretty.

"Your eyes are unfocused."

"No, they're not."

"You can't even see them. How would you know?"

"My Lady... your face is like a moonlit ocean, it glitters and it's beautiful."

"Okay, come on. Enough with your silly flirting."

"Give me a kiss, My Lady."

"No, thank you."

"Please?" She gave Ladybug her best Puss in Boots impression.

"No, kitty."

"I'm awfully pretty. It'd be a shame to let all this go to waste." She gestured to her face.

"It would not go to waste if I didn't kiss you."

"It would," Chat Noire argued.

"I'm not kissing you, Chat Noire."

"You had no inhibitions about kissing me when I was blind."

"You fell down a bunch of stairs. I felt sorry for you. Also," she added, "you weren't drunk."

"I'm not now, either."

"Keep telling yourself that, it still won't be true."

"I'm not!"

"Really? Sign something for me. If you can write a legible signature, I'll believe you."

"You just want my autograph."

"I do not." She handed Chat Noire a napkin and a pen. "Go for it. Prove me wrong."

Chat Noire clicked the pen and started to sign a name, but she wasn't sure which name it was. She didn't think it was Chat Noire. When she finished, she couldn't even read it.

Ladybug held up the napkin. "Does that look like 'Chat Noire' to you? I can't even tell what you were trying to write."

"Okay, maybe I just have really bad handwriting."

"Somehow, I don't think that's it."

"Hey, Buginette, they're doing the Dare thing now," Chat Noire said thickly. "Want to join?"

"'The Dare thing?'"

"Yes. You know, when someone asks you to do the thing and you do it."

"That's awfully vague."

"Or they ask you a question and you have to answer it."

Ladybug's mouth twitched. "You mean... Truth or Dare?"

"Yes. The Dare thing."

Ladybug laughed. "You know, I thought you were infuriating when you're drunk, but you're actually kind of cute." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of Chat Noire's eyes. "Sure, but be careful. We don't want any accidental identity slip-ups, now do we?"

"No, of course not," she slurred. "I... we promised, didn't we?" Tailing Ladybug, she added after a pause, "And I'm not drunk."

"Sure you aren't." They sat down with some civilians, maybe thirty or so, and joined the game. Before starting, Ladybug got the attention of the other players.

"Now, this kitty is very drunk, so don't ask her questions she might regret answering or dares she might regret doing when she's sober. Deal?"

"I'm not drunk," Chat Noire mumbled, for the seventh time that evening.

The game began, and it started relatively well. No one crossed lines they shouldn't have, and the gossip was exceedingly good, while not hurtful. Mylene and Ivan finally confessed their feelings for each other and kissed, Nathanael showed them all exactly one of his sketchbook drawings, and so on.

Chat Noire and Ladybug were probably truthed and dared the most, which didn't really bother them. While it was probably very tempting to ask questions like "what's your real identity?", the civilians stuck to things like "which arrondissement do you live in?" and "what's your favorite color?" It was a relatively safe practice that told them lots of new things and allowed them to get to know their favorite superheroes better.

Of course, many of the people were drunk, and it was only a matter of time before someone asked or dared something ridiculous. It actually turned out to be Mireille Caquet the weather girl, who had gotten even tipsier than Chat Noire. Gripping what was probably her second bottle, she giggled on her turn, "L-Ladybug, t-truth or dare?"

"Dare," Ladybug decided.

"I..." She broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "I dare you t-to... to kiss Chat Noire."

The cat in question scooted a little closer to Ladybug. "I rather like this idea."

"Hold up there, kitty," Ladybug said, pushing Chat to the side. "I hate to be that guy, but I think that's a little out of place, don't you think?"

"It's not that out of place," Chat Noire countered.

"Well... okay, maybe not, but I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of kissing through party games."

"Have you ever done it?"

"Once," Ladybug replied elusively, eliciting ooh's from the circle. 

"Just this once, My Lady."

"Not while you're drunk."

"I'm not-" she began, but Ladybug stopped her.

"You are," she said, "and I can't seem to convince you otherwise, but I assure you that you are. Think of tomorrow. Would you really want to walk away from here knowing that you kissed me drunk?"

"Why wouldn't I want that?"

Ladybug paused. "Here's a compromise. I have to kiss her once this evening. Not now. Okay?"

The entire circle nodded and giggled some more.

The game continued. Chat Noire didn't remember much more of it, but she did remember curling up into Ladybug's lap and purring at one point.

At eleven, the demand for selfies and autographs had pretty much died. Basically everyone who was sixteen or older was drunk. The children had gone home long ago, which also got rid of most of the parents. 

Now everything was shifting into questionable territory. No one was thinking straight, they were all dizzy and inebriated, and trying to take advantage of having Ladybug and Chat Noire present; especially since Chat Noire was somehow almost slam-dunk drunk.

Ladybug started looking out for the cat, preventing her from acting rashly and from letting her get into any more wine. She was like Chat Noire's new parent.

The kitty herself was enjoying the entire ordeal immensely. It was like a birthday party, just a lot better than any other she'd ever had, which was not that many. 

Around midnight, Ladybug dragged Chat Noire by her tail outside to the hotel gardens.

"Oh, what's this, My Lady?" she mumbled, half-asleep.

"I needed some fresh air and I'm not leaving you alone. Come here." She sat Chat Noire down on a bench.

"How... how is your dress so perfect still?" she murmured, touching the white chiffon gently. "It's... not even ruffled."

"Well, I know a lot of work went into it, so I tried to be careful with it." Ladybug pet Chat Noire's hair. "How are you holding up?"

"F-fantastic," she yawned, leaning against Ladybug and closing her eyes. She thought she heard a faint rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Aw, are you getting tired?"

"Yeah," Chat exhaled.

"You should probably go home soon, chaton. You're not under too much more obligation to stay here."

"Oh, no, no, no. You still owe me that kiss." She sat up properly. "Don't brush it off."

"If you insist." Ladybug cupped her hand around Chat Noire's jawline and leaned in ever so slightly.

"I don't think so!"

They looked up.

An Akumatized victim stood outside the doors from which Ladybug and Chat Noire had exited the hotel.

"Why is Papillon up this late?" Chat Noire groaned. 

"I bet he'd ask the same question of you," Ladybug replied dryly.

The cat reached for the bottle she had still only drank a quarter of and took a long swig, ignoring Ladybug's protests. Cracking her knuckles, she struck a stance. "Let's do this."

"Chat Noire, no!"

"Ladybug, it might mess up your dress if you transform. Let me handle this," Chat Noire said firmly, with more sobriety than she'd had all evening.

"I don't care about the stupid dress! You're tired and slammed and you can't possibly do this by yourself!"

"Ladybug."

They locked eyes for a burning second. This time, Chat Noire could've sworn she heard a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. Then Ladybug looked away.

"Say what you will, you can't purify Akumas."

"I'll figure out something. Don't mess up your dress."

"Chat Noire, it's just a-"

She rounded on Ladybug. "Listen, I know the designer personally and she put a lot of work and effort into that dress. She put love into it. She put her heart and soul into it. Imagine how heartbroken she'd be if it were ruined while she wasn't there. I don't want you risking it, okay?"

Ladybug bit her lip and ran inside, evidently only by Chat Noire's command. The superhero herself brought out her staff and twirled it as menacingly as she could, but the wine made her fingers feel clumsy and fuzzy. She dropped it after a few seconds.

"How cute. The cat dropped her toy," the Akuma jeered. "So, little kitty, do you know my name?"

"I don't see why I would."

"Well, it's the Truthseeker! Do you recognize me?"

"No."

"You should. Every time I tried to ask someone a Truth question- every time!- they would chicken out. I was excluded from the game." She clenched the dark purple wine glass in her fingers. "Now, I have the power to find out what anyone is thinking, ever! Beware my awesome abilities and cower in fear!"

"First of all, no thanks. And second of all, it's just a game."

"Oh, sure, you would say that," Truthseeker sneered. "You had plenty of fun. You got a free pass to kiss Ladybug. Me? I received nothing. It took all the fun out of the game."

"Like I just said, it's just a game. No need to get so worked up."

Truthseeker snarled and dipped her fingers in the wine glass, flinging little red droplets towards Chat Noire. She dodged them, with some difficulty.

"You see that? It's just like Veritaserum from Harry Potter. One drop will have you spilling your deepest secrets."

"That's... very nice."

"Won't be nice when you're confessing your identity and true feelings to Ladybug." Truthseeker smirked and began a chase after Chat Noire. The cat herself was having some difficulty. Her motor controls were seemingly skewed, making it impossible to run steadily and quickly. She was doing her best, but she was regretting having imbibed anything at all.

"Aw, we seem to be in a game of cat and mouse!" Truthseeker grinned.

"Wow, I certainly haven't heard that one before!" Chat Noire shot back, tone filled with salt.

"Someone's a grouchy kitten. Do you want some milk?"

"For all you know, I'm lactose intolerant."

"If you say so." Truthseeker carelessly cast some of her Veritaserum knock-off in Chat Noire's general direction. "You can't dance around like that forever, you know."

"Neither can you."

"No, but I'm doing less of the dancing and more of the truthseeking." She laughed and splashed a good 5 ounces of the potion stuff towards Chat Noire. "Be careful there, the floor is wet."

She wasn't aware of how wet it actually was. She was only fixated on the fact that she had to get the wine glass away from Truthseeker. She was positive that that was where the Akuma resided. She just couldn't get close enough without being splashed; and she had no desire to get splashed whatsoever.

Cats don't like getting wet.

This was bad, as it was around then that she realized that it had begun to rain.

She changed tact, switching direction abruptly and heading towards Truthseeker. The Akuma was so baffled by this strategy that she stopped dead, giving Chat Noire an opportunity to snatch at the glass. Her plan failed as Truthseeker realized her plan at the last moment, shaking the glass in a way that caused it to spill onto the ground, missing Chat by a hair. Or rather, a whisker.

"You'll have to do better than that!" she laughed maniacally.

Chat Noire bared her fangs. Why now, of all times? Couldn't Papillon let her have this one night undisturbed?

She growled, a guttural noise that rippled up through her throat. "Believe me, I can." 

Launching herself at Truthseeker, she prepared herself for a landing with impact, before realizing that she was seeing double. Confused, she tried to stop in mid-air, which was a bad idea. She ended up sprawled on her front, aching and embarrassed, skidding easily from the dampness of the floor.

"Doesn't look too much better to me."

She snarled again and popped up, swiping towards Truthseeker's voice. She landed a solid blow, but it hardly hindered the villain.

"Weak alley cat," she spat, twirling the potion in the glass. "You're a sad excuse for a superhero. You're nothing without Ladybug."

"Dude, that's low."

"Whatever!" Truthseeker snapped. "It's true, isn't it? And I'm all about the truth. I don't need my concoction to tell me that you're insecure of yourself, and that you think Ladybug is better than you. I see how you look at her. People reading as always been one of my many talents," she added, changing the topic.

"That's nice. I certainly needed to know that right now."

"Anyway, the point is, we both know you're inferior to Ladybug. She's the alpha. You're just a dumb sidekick."

The worst part of it all was that Chat Noire already believed all that, without having to be told it. She knew she was less than Ladybug, she knew she was meant to be a distraction, someone to hold the bad guys off while Ladybug formulated a super-awesome plan and put it into action. She knew that she was guaranteed to lose this fight without Ladybug by her side.

However, she didn't really care much for other people telling her that.

"She may be the alpha," Chat Noire growled, facing away from Truthseeker, "but she's my alpha and we're a team."

"You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what an alpha means. You are not equals."

"I never said we were. I said we're a team."

She turned around suddenly, just barely steadying herself and preventing herself from slipping. She clicked her baton, swinging and feinting towards Truthseeker, who dodged and leapt right into Chat Noire's real assault. 

The battle was still on, but it was hard. The rain made things six times more confusing, and she had to fight her instinct to chase after moving things. On top of that, it also made it nearly impossible to tell whether she was being splashed with the draft. Truthseeker didn't seem to realize that her evil laughs gave away her position, though, which helped a little. 

Chat Noire slipped behind Truthseeker and attempted to trip her. No go. The Akuma spun around, nearly dumping the contents of the bottle on Chat. She noticed that it seemed to keep pouring forever, which meant that the Akuma would never run out.

Twirling backwards, she narrowly avoided the liquid, and vaulted over Truthseeker with the aid of her baton. They clashed, metal against glass. Engaged in a dangerous dance, it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Adrenaline was pounding through Chat Noire's body. She almost managed to get Truthseeker in a headlock, but the Akuma slipped out of her grasp and jumped away.

Chat could feel her stamina wearing down. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold off the Akuma for much longer. Hoping that the rain would pitch her overboard, she shoved Truthseeker as hard as she could. It actually worked. Truthseeker's eyes widened as she stumbled backwards and began her plight off the roof, aided in her fall by the pouring rain. At the last second, however, her long fingernails caught on the gutter as she reached desperately for it. Her eyes flicked up to meet Chat Noire's remorseless ones.

"Who's weak now?" she hissed, making no attempt to help Truthseeker back up onto the roof.

In response, Truthseeker flung her wine glass towards Chat Noire. Not just the contents; the actual glass. Chat Noire didn't think to duck until it was too late. Her reaction was delayed, and for some reason, she lurched forward, dizzied by the constant motion of the rain and the alcohol that still befuddled her brain. She noticed three things: one, she had been hit by the Not-Veritaserum; two, she was now falling off the roof; and three, so was Truthseeker.

She rolled forwards to break her fall. Truthseeker did likewise. Chat Noire opened her mouth to say some cocky or arrogant remark, but shut it quickly. She didn't want to say anything while being controlled by the potion.

The wine glass rolled off the roof and shattered against the stone path of the garden. Chat only got a vague sense of something being broken, but she still knew that she was probably still screwed without Ladybug.

She realized with a start that Ladybug had to come right now to catch the Akuma, or else the entire city would be screwed. 

Miraculously, there she was: wearing her regular suit and an expression of kick-assery. She swung down to meet Chat Noire and scanned her surroundings.

"Ladybug," Chat Noire breathed.

"Where's her Akuma?"

Chat Noire tried to indicate the remains of the broken wine-glass verbally, but a different statement came out of her mouth. "Ladybug, I've loved you since the very first day."

"What? That doesn't answer my question."

Truthseeker started laughing. "Oh, this is great! She's come in contact with my truth serum. She can only tell you things that are true."

"Well, but telling me the location of the Akuma would have been the truth, also."

"You don't understand. She'll tell you truths she'd never tell you otherwise. It makes for perfect gossip. That's the magic of my potion!"

That's a very niche sort of information you're going for, Chat Noire thought. Seriously. It was kind of a lame power.

"Okay, fine. Chat Noire, please point to the Akuma."

Chat Noire pointed to the purple shards of glass, not far behind herself.

Ladybug exhaled and saw the black-mottled butterfly escaping from the garden. She quickly opened the yo-yo and caught the insect, freeing it and watching as Truthseeker lost her garish outfit.

"Bien joué," she said softly to Chat Noire, who blinked once.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Mm," she hummed quietly. "I want to go to sleep."

The previously Akumatized civilian had fled the scene. It was probably about 1 in the morning. Ladybug brought Chat Noire back to the bench.

"I'm really impressed, you know. Fighting her while you were so tired, and under the influence..."

"Anything for you, Buginette," Chat Noire whispered drowsily.

"I mean, it couldn't've been easy, and I'm really grateful to you for..." Ladybug paused. "Are you asleep?"

"Almost. You still owe me something," she mumbled. 

Ladybug laughed. "I suppose you're right." She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips against Chat Noire's. 

It was so new and electric, but so familiar at the same time. She had only made out with one other person, yet she could've sworn that these were the same lips searing themselves into her own. They tasted like vanilla and French pastries, just like Marinette's had. Did all girls' lips taste like that?

It arose the same feeling within her, the tickling and scorching, the melting of a heart of gold. The rain sizzled upon coming into contact with her burning Her bones turned to mush, her brain dissipated into nothingness, she was just a flaming heap of cosmic stuff. 

"Now don't ask me for any more. My heart's taken, kitty."

"Understood," she murmured.

"You're hopeless. You haven't even moved."

"I'm tired."

"I can see that." She tilted her head. "You looked... really out of it when I first saw you after I transformed. Did Truthseeker do something?"

"Cats don't like rain."

"I know. I didn't ask about that. Did Truthseeker do something?" Ladybug repeated.

Chat Noire exhaled. "Yes. She threw her glass at me."

"She told me about that. I can tell she did something else. What was it?"

"Nothing physical."

"I don't care. What was it?"

"She said stuff about... about the imbalance between you and me."

"What imbalance?"

"You're so much stronger than me. If you hadn't shown up, I would have lost to her."

Chat Noire was now looking away, watching the falling of the rain with what seemed like more interest than was warranted. Ladybug extended a hand to Chat's shoulder.

"You know that's not true, right?"

"You said it yourself. I can't purify Akumas. Without you, I would have been fighting forever. I would have lost."

"I said only that you couldn't purify Akumas. Nothing more." She tentatively stroked her partner's back. Chat Noire recoiled from her touch.

"Please, My Lady. I don't want to talk about it."

"I just want to make sure you knew she's lying. You're my partner, Chat Noire. I couldn't beat anyone without you. Do you know what Tikki told me once? She said we're meant to represent yin and yang. Creation and destruction, good luck and bad luck, dominant and submissive, sun and moon, water and fire, cold and warm."

"Who's which?"

"Tikki says I'm the yang. She says I'm the creation, the good luck, the dominant one."

"So I'm the yin?"

"Yes. You're meant to be the more introverted one, the darker one. You know, if you're passive, then I'm aggressive."

Chat Noire nodded once.

"My point is, we coexist. There could not be a yin without a yang, and likewise, there could not be a yang without a yin. We have to work together, or we'll never get anything done. Both of us are essential to the cause. And maybe I'm more aggressive and dominant, but you need to be there to balance me out. Sometimes, I need to be there to balance you out." She glanced over. "Tu comprend?"

"I guess."

"You are not weaker than me, if that's what you're thinking. If anything, I bet you're stronger than me. You do all the up-front combat."

"But you do the real fighting. You could definitely do this job by yourself."

Ladybug leaned back and started to laugh.

"You silly cat," she chuckled, "haven't you even been listening to anything I've been saying?"

Chat Noire stared at her.

"I'm explaining to you why that's not true. Do you know what would happen if you didn't fight by my side?"

"No..."

"I'd lose. Over and over again, I'd lose. I'd be discouraged, I wouldn't see any point in trying to fight. I'd be utterly useless. You complete me, Chat Noire, I swear you do."

"I... complete you."

"Yes." Her bangs were long and clung to her face in the rain, but she looked at Chat Noire through them. "I wouldn't be able to do this job by myself, even if I wanted to, which I don't. I wouldn't in a million years. I promise from the bottom of my heart, Chat Noire, you are vital to me."

For a moment, Chat Noire was a little stricken. Then her mouth curved upwards and her eyes welled up with tears as she fell into Ladybug's embrace.

Thunder boomed in the distance as she whispered, "I can't believe I ever let her get to me."

"I can't, either. You really didn't know how important you are to me?"

Releasing herself from Ladybug's embrace, she whispered, "I've never really been important to anyone."

"No one?"

"Well, they've never told me so, if I were." She tucked a spike of hair behind her ear. "I've been important in the general sense, all the time. Like you said, I'm important in ensuring that Paris stays safe from Papillon. But-- I guess I've never really been important to someone like this."

That was a lie, and she knew it. Up until a little while ago, she had had someone for whom she knew she was the light of their life.

She remembered those long, almond-shaped virescent eyes, that were always dancing and sparking with mirth. She remembered that sweet laugh, the laugh that always perked her up if her day was going badly. She remembered every loving word said to her, every true word that warmed her through her body and pulled a smile to her face. She remembered exactly how much she had meant to her mother.

"You deserve to have someone to whom you're important."

"I have you, don't I, Buginette?"

"Of course you do. You always will." Ladybug hugged Chat tightly. "Remember that, okay, chaton?"

Remember.

"Okay." She brushed Ladybug's wet hair out of her face. "And, you know... you're important to me, too."

That was an understatement. Ladybug was her sun, her moon, her stars, and everything in between. Ladybug was her existence, and she didn't know how she had lived before knowing Ladybug.

The short answer was that she hadn't. 

"I figured as much, after giving such a cheesy speech to you," Ladybug quipped.

"But you meant it, didn't you?"

"Every word." Ladybug patted Chat Noire's thigh. "It's best if you get going, isn't it?"

"Yes, you're right. Sweet dreams, Ladybug."

"Sleep tight." Ladybug slipped back into the Grand Paris to retrieve her dress. Chat Noire waited a bit before leaving, taking in the conversation they'd had.

Leaping back to the Agreste manor, she snuck in through the window so as not to arouse suspicion and detransformed. Thankfully, the transformation had absorbed the wetness, leaving her warm and dry. 

Plagg groaned as he struggled out of the ring. "Next time, keep me out of the rain. It weakens my powers and it makes me uncomfortable."

"Sorry, but..." Adrienne put a hand on the window. "I just... really needed to hear that from her."

Plagg seemed to understand, and left her alone.

Seriously, what had she done to deserve such an angel like Ladybug? She always knew exactly what to say, even if she didn't know it. She was so smart, and compassionate, and brave... and pretty. It kind of wasn't fair.

"Adrienne, it's nearly 1:30. You should be going to bed," Plagg urged.

"Yes, yes, I will."  She went to tuck herself in, but paused once before she fell back.

She looked out over the streetlamp-lit skyline of Paris. Somewhere, among those houses, Ladybug's true identity was sleeping in one of those houses. The thought made her smile a little bit. Somewhere, Ladybug was safe and sound.

Tossing the covers over her head, she tried her best to go to sleep without complications.

That proved to be easier thought than done.

Adrienne's dreams were plagued with cyan blue eyes and the memories of sweet pink lips; kissing them, staring at them, pining for them. They were a drug she could not escape.

Whose they were, she couldn't tell; she couldn't see the owners, no matter how much she focused. The lips tasted the same, the eyes were the exact same shade of blue and glowed with the same radiance. 

She didn't know what it meant, although she probably should've; she had made out with exactly two girls, and they just happened to have the same shade of blue eyes and their mouths tasted of the same sweetness? It was glaringly obvious, yet Adrienne still didn't catch on.

Such is the way of life for someone as unobservant as she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that Akuma attacks are basically my deus ex machinas except instead of fixing everything at the end they fuck everything up just right
> 
> I said this several times already but did I mention how much I fucking love drunk Chat Noire (she's so p r e c i o u s)
> 
> also @Fandoom_Heart (I believe that's the username) I WASNT GOING TO ADD YOUR SUGGESTION THAT YOU LEFT ON THE LAST CHAPTER BUT THATS SO CUTE I ADDED IT JUST FOR YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE ANYONE WHO COMMENTS ON THIS I LOVE ALL OF YOU I WANT TO KISS AND HUG YOU ALL UNLESS YOU DONT WANT THAT IN WHICH CASE I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE THE SENTIMENT


	7. I'd Catch A Grenade For You... Or Maybe Two Arrows, Whatever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noire finally finds the courage to tell Ladybug her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: suicide TW/mention  
> no actual suicide but just be warned!! comfort first, as always, bc that's what I value most
> 
> also more bad language (Adrienne S tOp)
> 
> this chapter is very short, less than 2k words! I will explain why at the end (click "more notes" if you're really curious)

"Happy Valentine's Day to me," Adrienne sang under her breath cheerfully, for once not being sarcastic as she danced around her room. She was very excited to finally get off her chest her true feelings for Ladybug; she was ready for Ladybug to know the truth.

First, of course, there was school to sit through. It proved to be a lot more interesting than she had thought.

When she first arrived at Francois-Dupont, she was bombarded with love letters and screams. It seemed half the school had written her something professing their love for her, which was weird, as she didn't know most of them. When she took her usual seat by Nino, she realized that no one else had been treated like that. 

"Dude, you're loaded," Nino commented, observing Adrienne's surplus of love letters. She had tried to stuff them all in her backpack, but there were simply too many.

"I suppose so," she smiled. "Not sure exactly why, though."

Nino snorted. "Mate, you're a famous supermodel."

"Oh, right."

Marinette cleared her throat very quietly behind them. Adrienne looked around. Marinette let out a frightened squeak and shrank back into her chair.

"Just ask him," Alya urged, prodding her friend gently. "He won't mind."

Marinette gulped audibly, and then said shakily, "Adrien, would you- when- when is your birthday?"

Adrienne frowned. Marinette already knew her birth date, she knew that much. She must've meant the actual time of day. "Um. September 21st, at 5:18 am?"

Marinette's eyes widened and she pressed her lips together.

"What?"

"N-nothing," she replied nervously, clearly lying. "Never- never mind."

Adrienne shrugged. "If you say so."

During the class, she decided to work on a love letter to Ladybug. Taking inspiration from the numerous ones she had received, she tried her best to make it sound sincere and not cheesy, while also being sweet.

Tes cheveux sont noirs comme le nuit  
Tes yeux sont bleus comme un ciel d'été 

She sighed and erased it. That was so lame, comparing her Lady's immeasurably beautiful eyes to the sky, of all things. She deserved better.

She spent the rest of the class in a severe state of writer's block, and ended up throwing all her poems away. She would just have to say it up front.

Upon trying to exit the classroom, she was stopped by Chloe, who wanted an autograph. Heading straight home, she decided to practice in front of the mirror.

Adrienne transformed and cleared her throat.

"Um... Ladybug," she began tentatively, tugging at her gloves, "I just wanted you to know that, um... you've always been... every time I look at you, I..." She stopped, scowling in frustration. "Why is this so hard?" She glanced wistfully at the mirror. "Maybe I'm too hot and I'm making myself nervous."

She could almost imagine her reflection scoffing and walking away. 

Trying again, she adjusted her suit and fluffed her hair. "I, um... want to tell you how I really feel about you."

Her reflection said nothing.

"You're, um, really... really pretty-" She bit her lip. That was the lamest thing she had ever said. Come on, Chat Noire, you're better than this.

A third attempt, then. She straightened her back and made eye contact with the mirror.

"You're... uh..." She abandoned all pretense of seriousness and finger-gunned, smiling a fanged grin. "Really fuckin' hot, My Lady. I mean, you're the hottest fuckin' girl I know."

It was true, but somehow, she wasn't sure that Ladybug would appreciate the compliment all that much. She sighed and tried yet again.

Everything that came to mind was either lame or inappropriate. She gave up after five more attempts, one of them including the phrase "You're rarer than any Pepe," which was a) unoriginal and b) desperate.

Of course, she was desperate. There was just no need for Ladybug to know that. 

She decided to go ahead and find Ladybug, jumping out the window and searching all over the city. She found Ladybug in a Spider-Man pose, upside down, and extended her staff beneath her feet, helping Ladybug down.

"Ah, you're just in time, My Lady," she said, pulling Ladybug in closer. "I have to tell you something." Fuck. I'm not prepared. Why am I doing this?

"It's not the time," Ladybug insisted, "Dislocœur-"

"Shh." She put a finger to Ladybug's lips. "I can't wait any longer."

Ladybug seemed temporarily shocked into silence.

"Ladybug, I... I lo-"

It was then that she saw the arrow dashing towards them. "LOOK OUT!" she screamed, and twisted herself to intercept the arrow's impact.

The rest, unsurprisingly, she couldn't remember at all, no matter how hard she tried. The first thing she remembered again was Ladybug throwing Chat Noire at Dislocœur, sending him toppling to the ground.

Incredibly disoriented, she did her best to make sense of the situation, but couldn't. She only heard Ladybug commanding her to take off the brooch.

She was filled with an intense desire to obey her Lady, and snatched the brooch off of Dislocœur's sash. It crumbled under her touch. She tossed the brooch to Ladybug. "Happy Valentine's Day, gorgeous!"

"Aw, thanks! You shouldn't have!" Ladybug stomped on the brooch aggressively. "Whoops!"

She freed the Akuma, and threw the... caramel apple...? into the air.

"Bien joué!" she grinned, fist-bumping Chat Noire. 

"Can... can I tell you something, My Lady?"

Kim, who had shed his Akuma outfit, scrambled away quickly. 

"I think you've only got a few more minutes before you detransform," Ladybug said regretfully. "And-"

"I don't care!" Chat Noire shrieked with sudden ferocity.

Ladybug's half-smile was wiped off her face.

"Please, I- I'm sorry, My Lady, but-" Chat Noire had been waiting for this so long, so much longer than she had needed to, because she had never worked up the courage to tell Ladybug her true feelings. Now was her only chance, and she was not under any circumstances throwing it away, even if it meant that she might detransform in front of Ladybug. "I... I really, really, really need to tell you this."

Ladybug nodded once, slowly. "I... okay, but..."

"I know we're about to detransform, but... this... it's more important."

It wasn't. It really wasn't. Of course, our favorite feline superheroine didn't see it as such. To her, this was the single most important thing in her life at the moment.

"Okay, let me start simple." She inhaled. "Ladybug, I love you."

She was expecting maybe a puzzled glance, or an expression of shock, but Ladybug seemed utterly unfazed. In fact, when she replied, her comment was "I know."

It turned out to be Chat Noire who gave the puzzled glance. "You... know?"

"You've told me." Ladybug smiled a little bit, and took out her yo-yo. "Good-bye, Chat Noire."

"Wait, please!" Chat begged. "What... when did I tell you?"

Ladybug dropped the yo-yo. "You mean you really don't remember?"

"I swear, I don't. How long ago was that?"

"Oh, I don't know... a week or two ago."

Chat silently analyzed that. "You mean... at the gala?" That had been the only time she had seen Ladybug during that time span.

"Yes..." Ladybug coughed uncomfortably. "Really, it's probably best if we go."

"No! Wait! Tell me- tell me what I said. Word for word."

Ladybug considered this. "If I remember correctly, you said... 'Ladybug, I've loved you since the very first day.'"

Chat Noire jolted backwards. Ladybug had known, and hadn't said anything. Of course, that sentence barely began to cover the vast ocean of Chat Noire's passionate and dedicated love, but it gave the watered-down general gist.

"It's... I mean, that's true, but..."

"I think you only have one minute left, Chat Noire."

She looked down. Yes, her ring had only one pip remaining. She covered it with her hand. "I really don't care! You don't understand, My Lady, you're-"

"Do you really want to risk your own identity for this?" Ladybug said impatiently, snapping her yo-yo to her waist. "I believe you when you say this is important, but secrecy comes first!"

"I mean this with every fiber of my being, Ladybug, I love you and no one can come close to even understanding how much you mean to me. I'm dead serious, there is no one alive who matters more to me." Her eyes stung, but she ignored the tears streaking down her face. "Without you, without this double life I'm leading, I... I probably wouldn't be able to..." She didn't want to say it. She couldn't say it.

The truth was that she had had suicidal thoughts before, prominently before she had met Plagg. Being forced to live through the loss of her mother, the only one who had accepted her as a girl, and being ordered never to truly express her true identity... oh, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Her life had been an utter mess. Becoming Chat Noire, meeting Ladybug... it had, in all honesty, saved her.

If she was being truthful with herself, she probably wouldn't have been there right then if she hadn't ever become Chat Noire.

"Chat Noire, I..."

"You know I love you, I get that, but..." She was crying now, honest to god crying, tears streaming in little rivers and sobs racking her body. "You don't know how much you've done for me. You..." She gulped. 

"Chat Noire, please, it's okay," Ladybug soothed, walking over and stroking her back.

Chat Noire looked up at Ladybug, eyes wide, and blinked once.

The ring became pitch-black as the last pip disappeared.

Ladybug made no attempt to shield her eyes, but she probably should've. Green light was cast all around the fountain as Chat Noire turned back into Adrienne.

Ladybug's eyes flew open wide, and her hand snapped back to her side instantly. Her face was white, except for her cheeks, which were rapidly reddening.

"You... you're..."

Adrienne looked away. Her cheeks were still stained wet.

"I'm sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohm y god I bet you're all thinking "Mimi. come on. you just did angst last chapter."
> 
> first of all s t o p I love angst  
> second of all s t o p this baby is full of angst and she's such a smol child
> 
> so yes I was supposed to explain why this chapter is the shortest so far so here we go: there are a few reasons!
> 
> number one, it's been more than a week since my last update bc I had moderate writer's block and I was working on the one-shots thing (cheeky subtle spon)  
> number two, this chapter doesn't really have a plot of its own; it is meant as a prelude to chapter eight, which is primarily accounting for all the stuff we need to know about Mari rn (chapter eight is going to be told from her point of view). If you want, you can think of this as chapter six and a half  
> number three, I am lazy  
> number four, aesthetic  
> and number five, I think it flows best this way, plus I didn't want to get TOO angsty in this one bc we had enough in the last one so I kind of cut myself off
> 
> this is getting very long but one last thing: you have three more chapters coming your way! I have planned them out so I can't back out on this and leave it hanging! it will end on chapter ten (so neat wow) and the last one will be marginally longer, probably about 10k words or so. thanks for sticking around this long! I love you guys! remember that I 100% support you all helping me model and shape the story to be the best it can be so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!
> 
> P. S. yes I changed the rating to teen, I think it's really changed into a teen-rated work at this point


	8. She's Kind Of Hot, Though

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrienne comes out to her friends and classmates, and gets called hot a lot. (Because she is.)
> 
> Lots of cheeky Adriennette. Also, mild sin warning: lots of sex mentions (but no actual sex) (sorry) and lots of bad language

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was inspired by my favorite fanfic author ever of all time @frostedpuffs because she very RUDELY inspired me to write some sinful Adriennette how dare she
> 
> (psst if you're reading this right now I love you I'm lying)
> 
> also I just said "inspired" twice in the same sentence what
> 
> (((oh man I'm so excited for the last two chapters it's gonna be so cute and domestic)))
> 
>  
> 
> also holy fuck did you see how far their relationship advanced after the reveal like I didn't even plan that it just HAPPENED  
> this always happens for some reason w/ post-reveal I never do it intentionally but adrien(ne) and Mari just seem to kind of agree on being together silently after any reveals it's really weird

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Ladybug repeated, feeling as though she were in a trance. "Chat Noire, what could you possibly be sorry for?"

Adrien- was that his name? Her name? Ladybug mentally decided to call her Chat Noire for now- sniffed once. "Oh, I don't know. I prioritized telling you my feelings over our secrecy, and, I- anyone could come walking by right now, and- well, um-"

Somehow, they had been pretty lucky, in that no one had been around for the past five minutes, even in front of a generally pretty well-known fountain. All the same, that probably wasn't worth apologizing for. In Ladybug's eyes, Chat Noire had done nothing wrong.

"Ch- there's-" Ladybug sighed. "Come, I'm also about to detransform."

She picked Chat Noire up in her arms and dashed into an empty street. Chat's face seemed to pale and her cheeks to redden, but Ladybug wasn't sure.

She deposited Chat on the ground and they both sat down on a bench just as her earrings were wiped blank, solid red.

Chat's mouth dropped open as Ladybug became Marinette once more.

"You're... um..."

Marinette's cheeks were now burning red as well. She looked away.

"Yeah."

Chat Noire cleared her throat. "You know, um... I'm, uh, surprised that you- you weren't more-" She clenched her fist."-I don't know, um..." She brushed her hair aside. "Are you... okay with this?"

"Okay with what?"

"You know. Me."

"Chat Noire, I love you."

"Even after... this?"

"What is this?"

She let out a short laugh. "Ladyb- Marinette, please. Stop dancing around it. I'm just gonna-" She inhaled sharply. "Okay, can- can I just... tell you? No sugarcoating?"

"Please do," Marinette prompted with a smile.

"Well, um... I've been... um, I haven't been lying to you, I- I promise. I- I really am... um..."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Shh." Marinette stroked Chat's cheek. "What would you like me to call you?"

It took Chat Noire a while to respond. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Marinette wondered if she even knew, and was about to ask, but Chat Noire responded after a minute or so.

"I've, um... been calling myself Adrienne."

"Adrienne." Marinette smiled. "I like that. It's pretty." She softly kissed Adrienne's cheek. "Like you."

"Oh, shut up, Marinette."

"Never," she teased, and ran her fingers through Adrienne's short hair. Adrienne batted Marinette's hand away, but she was smiling.

"Um, but... yeah. I'm a trans girl. My dad, he... he didn't like that. He doesn't like that. He didn't want me 'pretending I was a girl.'" She used air quotes for the phrase. "He never understood that I wasn't pretending."

Marinette said nothing, doing her best to be silent and supportive and to just listen.

"When I... when I met Plagg for the first time, I asked him to turn me into Chat Noire, and that was just what I went by." Adrienne half-smiled. "It was... really gratifying, you know. No one ever referred to me as 'she' or 'her.' It was such a nice feeling..." She looked up at Marinette. "And then there was you."

"Me... me?" Marinette asked in confusion. What did she possibly have that could make Adrienne, beautiful, supermodel, kind, brave, perfect in every way Adrienne... call her out like this?

"You." A dreamy look came over Adrienne's face, one that Marinette felt lucky to witness. "I, um, hate to be cheesy, but it was pretty much love at first sight with you." She looked over hastily. "I mean, when I met you as Ladybug for the first time."

"Oh," Marinette said bashfully, and did her best not to scream very loudly. Adrienne, her Adrienne, was in love with her, and had been since she had first laid eyes on her.

Well, kind of.

"Yeah, I... it really helped me. A lot. To see you... to see you so often. When I said there was no one alive who mattered more to me, I... I really meant it, you know."

Marinette didn't want to pry, but her curiosity got the better of her. "I'm, um... noticing that you always include the word 'alive' with that phrase."

"Yeah." Adrienne sighed. "My mom was my best friend growing up. She understood me. She was the only one I trusted, I guess. When she died..." Adrienne's eyes glistened wetly under the sharp rays of the afternoon sun. "It was... really hard for me. Especially since my dad was such a horrible parent after that. He was- he was goddamn awful, I won't lie." She shifted ever so slightly towards Marinette. "Enter you. You gave me a reason to keep waking up every morning and to protect the city when the occasion called. It was- it is the highlight of my life. You are the highlight of my life." She started to smile, but it quickly disappeared. "Oh, God, I'm so cheesy. Sorry."

"No, no, it's okay," Marinette persuaded. "The least I can do is listen to you, after so much you've gone through."

"God, you're... I'm..." Adrienne wiped her eyes dry. "Oh, fuck me. I'm so emotional right now."

"I'll gladly fuck you, if you want me to."

Marinette realized that might've been a bad idea to say out loud. Not that she hadn't been thinking it internally every time she heard Adrienne say that.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Mari."

"Sorry-"

Adrienne started laughing uncontrollably. "Jesus Christ," she repeated in amazement. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"What, that I make inappropriate sexual jokes in uncalled for occasions?"

"Sure, why not," Adrienne giggled. Marinette felt a warm tender feeling crawling inside her, one that had come to be awfully familiar in her whenever she saw Adrienne.

"Are we taking a break from you coming out to me now?"

"Yes," Adrienne decided, leaning into Marinette's petite frame. "I have a newfound respect for you, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."

After a moment's hesitation, Marinette reached over and stroked Adrienne's hair as she would a cat. Miraculously, Adrienne started to purr.

"Adri, you're purring."

"Shh," Adrienne whispered, her voice vibrating. "Keep going."

Marinette smiled and continued. She noticed that Adrienne was doing the cat thing where she leaned into Marinette's body and put a dangerous amount of weight on her. Being the heathen that she was, Marinette waited for Adrienne to really lean into her before she stood up without warning and giggled as Adrienne yelped and crashed to the floor.

"I have lost my newfound respect for you, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng," Adrienne announced.

"That's fair."

"You disgust me."

"No, I don't. You love me."

Adrienne considered that for a moment. "Hmm... do I?"

"You just told me so, like, five times."

Adrienne rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She fluffed her hair and sat back on the bench. "I can't even think of anything else I want to tell you. That's pretty much it." She was silent for a moment, seemingly going through a mental checklist, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, right. I forgot to mention that my dad said if I told anyone about me being a girl, or if he caught any of my friends using female pronouns around me, he'd take me out of the school, no questions asked. That was fun."

"I imagine that's sarcasm."

"You think?" Adrienne snorted. "Oh, that was hell. I was, like, 71% sure you guys wouldn't care- I mean, not that you wouldn't care," she amended quickly. "That you would, like, be okay with it, or whatever. I probably would've come out to you not long after I met you, if he would've let me." She cast her eyes skyward. "But he didn't."

"Your dad needs to get his head out of his ass."

"Well phrased," Adrienne agreed. "The point being, you have to be careful now, because if he finds me out, I'm screwed."

"I'm not going to be careful. I'm going to yell at your dad. I'm going to fucking tell him off."

"That may not be the wisest of ideas."

"Fuck 'wise.' I'm Ladybug. I have luck on my side," Marinette declared. 

As she said it, she realized it was a lot more true than she had considered it to be. Adrienne, who was the purest cinnamon roll to walk the earth, had been subjected to the horrible luck of not having the same gender as sex and a father who was transphobic. She had lost her mother, and kept away from everyone else, prohibited from having friends. Meanwhile, she had two loving parents and plenty of wonderful friends. She had a lot more luck than Adrienne did.

"Fair enough," Adrienne ceded. She glanced around quickly. "We'd better get going before someone finds us and wonders what the heck we're doing."

Marinette nodded once, and moved to pick Adrienne up, but Adrienne ducked under and picked her up instead. Marinette struggled out and hefted Adrienne over her shoulder.

"Let me go, you fiend," Adrienne hissed.

"No."

"I will fight you."

"Adri, you're, like-" Marinette stopped as she tried to get Adrienne under control, since she was wiggling intensely. "-I'm pretty sure you're lighter than me."

"I'm taller than you."

"Shh. Just roll with it."

"Let me off of your shoulder, you walnut."

Marinette sighed with a smile and shifted Adrienne into her arms instead. "Better?"

"No."

"I don't care." Marinette carried Adrienne out of the street and began walking towards her own house.

Adrienne opened her mouth to complain, but Marinette's gently swaying gait seemed to lull her into comfort, and she settled into Marinette's arms, purring again. Marinette couldn't help but to giggle. She was so adorable.

Adrienne cracked open an eye. "What is it?"

"Oh... nothing. It's just cute how you purr even when you're not transformed."

"Oh... yeah." Adrienne shrugged. "I've never really been happy enough to purr detransformed, so I didn't even know."

What a depressing thought, that Adrienne was never really happy unless she was Chat Noire. It wasn't too surprising, though. 

Adrienne vibrated softly as Marinette stroked her head every now and then, doing her best not to disturb her. They didn't get too many weird looks from passersby, which was reassuring. Even if Marinette was carrying a internationally famous, million-dollar model in her hands, it was relatively normal for Paris.

When Marinette stopped, Adrienne's eyes popped open, and she smiled instantly upon seeing the location she had been taken to. "Oh, my god, I love you."

"It's my impression that you don't get enough food, so I thought I might as well. Plus, I wanna tell my parents so they know." She finally dropped Adrienne. "I mean, if it's okay with you. It's totally your choice, but-"

"No, no, it's fine," Adrienne assured. "Let's go in." She kissed Marinette's cheek and put her hands on Marinette's arms.

It was almost funny. It was like they had silently agreed upon being girlfriends without even knowing it. Of course, Marinette was far from complaining; but it was still amusing.

They strolled into the Dupain-Cheng boulangerie-patisserie and greeted Marinette's parents with kisses on the cheek, as was the French custom. 

"Maman, Papa, can I get some croissants and pains au chocolat?" Marinette asked.

"Of course, sweetie," Sabine smiled, and said to Adrienne: "Make yourself at home, dear. We're so happy to see you again."

"I'm happy to be here again," Adrienne replied politely, and Marinette was sure her parents were swooning as she rolled her eyes and picked out some croissants and pains au chocolat.

"Stop flirting with my parents, you goof." Marinette gathered the bread into a basket. "Is my room okay?"

"I don't know where else we would go."

"Oh, Marinette? Alya left a message for you," Tom called.

"I'll be sure to call her," Marinette replied. "Allons-y, Adri." She marched up the stairs.

"D'accord." Adrienne followed Marinette up the stairs, humming a tune that sounded strangely familiar. 

As Adrienne loaded her arms with croissants, Marinette dialed Alya's phone number and video-called her. Alya picked up after two rings.

"Girl, you are not going to BELIEVE-" Alya stopped dead mid-sentence, eyes darting between Marinette and Adrienne, whose cheeks were stuffed full with croissants. "-Um..."

"Go on," Marinette prompted eagerly, chomping down on a croissant also.

Alya ignored this, and momentarily lost interest in Marinette. "HEY, NINO!" she shouted, panning her phone around so that Nino was in view as well. "You aren't gonna believe this!"

"What?" Nino yelled back, also sounding as if his mouth were full.

"Marinette has Adrien over at her house! Alone, together! They're totally gonna fuck!"

"I told you," Marinette whispered under her breath.

"No, you didn't." Adrienne paused. "Tell me what?"

"That we're gonna fuck."

"You never said that. You just suggested it."

"Oh, well-" Marinette shoved Adrienne. "Same thing."

"No, it's not."

"Shut your adorable face."

"No."

"Do it."

"Make me."

"If you insist." Marinette lunged forward and tackled Adrienne to the floor, her lips against Adrienne's. She kissed her for a good five seconds, which is longer than people who are not dating are supposed to kiss.

"ARE YOU SEEING THIS, NINO?" Alya screamed. 

"I see it."

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Mademoiselle!" Alya declared.

"I do?" Marinette looked back to Adrienne, who was smoothing down her (very disheveled) hair and who seemed a bit dizzy. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and her cheeks were a dashing shade of scarlet. "Oh, right, I do."

"When I said you were gonna fuck, I was just kidding!" Alya continued. "I didn't think you'd actually have the courage to even get close to him without-"

"Need I remind you," Adrienne interrupted, "that she's already kissed me once before?"

"Twice," Marinette corrected.

"Oh, wait, if you count..." Adrienne began counting on her fingers, tallying up all the times they had kissed, in suit and out. After a bit of mumbling, she looked up brightly and announced, "Nine! We've kissed each other nine times."

Marinette frowned. "Really? I thought it was more than that." She began counting on her fingers, too. Once for the time Chat Noire was blind, twice for the sleepover, twice for the time Chat Noire was snowed in, once for the time Adrienne kissed Ladybug, once for the Ladynoire gala, once for when Dislocœur's spell had required Ladybug to kiss Chat Noire earlier that day, once for when Marinette had called Adrienne pretty, once for when Adrienne had seen that Marinette took her to the bakery, and once for twenty seconds ago. "No, it's eleven."

"It is?"

"One time you were too drunk to remember, and the other was today."

"I counted all of them from today."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"Will you two stop bickering for even a second?" Alya interrupted.

Marinette pressed her lips together. "Oh, right. Didn't you say you had something to tell me?"

Alya nodded. "I didn't say it, but I do have a major scoop for you! Look!" She thrust her phone in the camera. 

Somehow, she had gotten a picture of Ladybug kissing Chat Noire, to break Dislocœur's spell. The photo made the pose they had been in seem ten times more suggestive than it had actually been.

Adrienne blanched, then looked over to Marinette, "That was... this is... the... today?"

Marinette nodded guiltily, while Alya nodded earnestly. 

"Isn't it great?" Alya squealed. "I can't believe I got it on camera!"

"Wow," Adrienne said, looking directly into Marinette's eyes. "Ladybug is into some kinky shit."

Marinette blushed profusely, but Alya didn't notice. 

"Don't be mean to her, she was just trying to help Chat Noire!" Alya insisted.

"She was?"

"Yes, she was," Marinette said very pointedly. "Leave her alone."

Adrienne sighed. "If you say so." She glanced over to Marinette. "Just saying, though, Ladybug should've asked permission first."

"She had no choice," Marinette groaned. "Chat  
Noire wasn't herself. She wasn't thinking straight."

"Maybe you're not thinking straight."

"I'm not." Marinette leaned in, whispering into Adrienne's ear. "I'm thinking gay." 

Adrienne retaliated by giving Marinette a big smooch. "So am I," she whispered back. 

"Ayy," Marinette grinned, finger-gunning.

"Ayy," Adrienne echoed, doing the same.

"Did I miss something? Since when can Marinette form complete sentences around Adrien, much less kiss him?" Alya laughed.

Adrienne and Marinette exchanged glances.

We should tell her, Marinette implored silently. If you want to, I mean.

My dad's going to kill me, you know, Adrienne sighed. 

This is more important, Marinette insisted. If you want her to use the right pronouns, tell her.

"Guys, stop eyefucking each other," Alya begged. 

"We're not-" Adrienne and Marinette tried to say in unison, but Nino interrupted.

"You totally are."

"Shut up," Marinette snapped, but a smile kept working its way onto her face. She turned to Adrien and mentally nudged her. Go on, she urged silently.

Adrienne nodded ever so slightly. "Alya, Nino, can I... can I tell you something?"

"Sure," they agreed in unison.

Adrienne looked back to Marinette, and then returned to the camera. "Um, can you... come over here?"

Alya and Nino shared confused glances.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------

 

"You're... a girl," Alya repeated slowly.

"Yes," Adrienne agreed bashfully.

Nino blinked once. "Dude, why didn't you just say so?"

"What?"

"We wouldn't have cared. You should've told us a long time ago," Nino said.

Adrienne's face broke into a smile. Her heart, which had been beating furiously for the past few minutes, was finally calm. Relief crashed over her. "You're... it's okay with you guys?"

"We'd have to be horrible friends if we weren't," Nino pointed out.

"Preach," Alya agreed, and high-fived him.

"It's like I said," Marinette said. "It doesn't matter which gender you are. What matters is that you're a good person."

"You never said that."

Marinette scowled. "It's my mentality, okay? Do you have to correct me all the time?"

"Yes."

"Okay, seriously, I can't take this anymore. Are you guys dating or what?" Alya pleaded.

They looked at each other. "I don't know," they said simultaneously.

"You've kissed each other eleven times, apparently," Nino piped up. "I feel like that's grounds for some kind of relationship."

"Fair point." Adrienne scooted a little closer to Marinette. "You hear that? We have grounds for some kind of relationship."

"Of course we do! You said you love me, you utter bagel!"

"Oh, yeah."

"She's basically a Disney princess," Marinette confided in Alya and Nino. 

"I can't sing, though."

"Neither could Ariel."

"Yeah, but-" Adrienne shoved Marinette. "Oh my god, you spork! The point is that she's a great singer, so Ursula steals her voice! Did you not even watch The Little Mermaid?"

"I watched it! She can't sing for most of the movie!"

"But that's just because-" Adrienne bit her lip. "Never mind, you're obviously hopeless."

Marinette pretended to act offended. "Excuse me?"

"Did I fucking stutter?"

"Ugh, I hate you," Marinette groaned.

"Love you too," Adrienne grinned, hugging Marinette. After a moment's pause, Marinette smiled and hugged Adrienne back.

"They're totally gonna fuck," Alya whispered to Nino, who nodded gravely.

"Get out, both of you," Marinette ordered.

"She wants us to get out because they're going to fuck," Alya snickered.

Marinette glared. "Out."

Giggling the whole way out, Alya and Nino complied.

The door shut and Marinette and Adrienne were alone again.

Adrienne cleared her throat. "Was there anything else you wanted to do?"

Marinette nodded slowly. "Actually, yes... didn't you say you'd never worn makeup before?"

"Yeah, but I was lying. I have to wear it for photoshoots. I just didn't want you knowing I was a model."

"Well, but you can't apply it, right?"

"No..."

"And it's my bet that you'd like to learn."

"Your bet is correct."

Marinette grinned. "That's what I thought." She stood up and picked a makeup case from her shelf. "That's why I want to teach you."

"You... teach me... how to do makeup?"

"Yes."

A smile crept along Adrienne's face. "I'd love that."

The next few hours were spent mastering foundation, bronzer, mascara, contour, lipstick, eyeliner, and other various makeup products. By the end, Adrienne was absolutely gorgeous, and she had learned how to use the basic functions.

Marinette whistled. "You look hot, Adri."

"Do you think I could wear this tomorrow, to school?" Adrienne asked hopefully. "I mean, makeup?"

"Well, but you don't have any at home, do you?"

"No..." Adrienne ceded, crestfallen, until she brightened up again and said, "Hey! If I stay over tonight, then you can do it for me again tomorrow." She covered her mouth. "Oh, my god, that sounds so rude, I'm sorry. I mean-"

"No," Marinette interrupted, "it's okay." She smiled. "I'd love to have you over."

The night passed without much incident. Marinette and Adrienne did not fuck, but instead argued like a married couple and slept in the same bed, which was comfortable. (I'm telling you, none of the sexytimes happened. Sorry to disappoint, but it was pure and wholesome sleep.)

Adrienne woke the next morning to Nutella-banana crepes, and nearly scarfed hers down whole. (In case you are unfamiliar, authentic French crepes are somewhere around a foot in diameter, and are folded into quarters, making them very difficult to eat in singular bites.) She stole some of Marinette's clothing, Marinette redid Adrienne's makeup, and they walked to school together, arm in arm.

"Dude, you look really hot," Nino commented upon seeing his friend, then froze. "Wait, can I still call you dude?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Adrienne reassured.

The rest of the class shared looks of mutual confusion, silently asking things like why wouldn't Nino be able to call Adrien dude and why is Adrien wearing such nice makeup and why did Marinette and Adrien walk to school together.

"Go on, tell them, babe," Marinette persuaded, kissing Adrienne's cheek. "If you're ready."

"I'm ready."

The class murmured in curiosity. Ready for what? Tell us what?

"You look hot, Adrien!" someone called from the back of the room.

"Thank you," Adrienne replied. "But it's not Adrien. It's Adrienne."

She said it so matter-of-factly, in such a self-assured way, that there was only a few moments' pause before the same person called again, "Sorry! You look hot, Adrienne."

Marinette couldn't help but to smile. Her classmates were such lovely, supporting people. 

The class bombarded Adrienne with questions like should I use she/her pronouns with you? Am I gay if I still have a crush on you? Will you sign my face?

"They seem okay with it," Adrienne whispered to Marinette under the clamor, smiling like an excited puppy.

"Of course they are," Marinette encouraged. 

"Okay, everyone take your seats. You, too, Adrienne. This is still a school," Mademoiselle Bustier reminded.

The class grumbled and got back in their seats, except for Adrienne, who was still sitting on Marinette's lap. 

"Adrienne."

"What? Oh, sorry." Adrienne got off Marinette's lap and joined Nino, fist-bumping him for no apparent reason.

Adrienne felt oddly light-hearted for the rest of the duration of the school day. It was one of the most satisfying things she had ever experienced; how her classmates just seemed to take to her all the same and transitioned easily into using female pronouns.

When lunch rolled around, Adrienne was confronted by Chloe. 

"You're a girl," Chloe stated, putting on her classic bitch face. 

"Yes," Adrienne said uncomfortably.

Chloe looked Adrienne up and down. "You look good."

"Thanks."

"If you get lonely... Just saying, I swing both ways."

Adrienne stifled a laugh. Even if Chloe had some element of humanity to her, she had still bullied several of her classmates without remorse. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm taken."

Marinette glanced over. "You are?"

"Stop eavesdropping, you lamppost!"

"Sorry." Marinette went back to her dumplings.

"You are?" Chloe echoed Marinette. "By whom?"

"Uh-"

"It's me," Marinette stage-whispered.

"Shut up!"

"Marinette?" Chloe asked in contempt, lip curling. "You're with that stupid, clumsy girl?"

"Um..."

"Say yes," Marinette stage-whispered again.

Adrienne rolled her eyes, but told Chloe very pointedly, "Yes, but she's neither stupid nor clumsy. She's an amazing, smart, sweet girl."

"So are you, babe!" Marinette cheered.

"Thanks. Now please, for the love of God, shut up," Adrienne growled. "I'm trying to have a moment here."

"You're missing out," Chloe sneered. "That's all." She marched away, leaving Adrienne much relieved.

"I feel like I'm okay with that, somehow," Adrienne said.

"Gee, I wonder why."

"Can I have a dumpling?" Adrienne reached over and stole a dumpling, simultaneously choosing to sit on Marinette's lap. "Thanks."

"No."

"Too late."

Marinette frowned. "Do you even have any lunch?"

"No," Adrienne admitted. "My dad normally only wants me to have two meals every day."

"Man, that's some fucked up shit. Here, have my dumplings."

"No."

"I will shove them down your throat."

"How romantic."

"I know. Open wide." Marinette fed Adrienne a dumpling.

"Thanks," Adrienne said, around the dumpling.

"You're welcome."

Adrienne did not get off of Marinette's lap for a very long time, and when she did, it was time for them to go home anyway, because it was Wednesday. Adrienne dragged Marinette into the car with the Gorilla and smothered her with careless kisses for no real reason, knowing that the Gorilla still wouldn't say anything to her father. Heck, he wouldn't say anything at all. In all her years, Adrienne had never once heard the Gorilla speak. 

"Stop, you got lipstick all over me," Marinette grumbled. 

"Oh, grow up. You get lipstick on me all the time."

"No, I get lip gloss on you. They're different."

"They're both cosmetic products meant to enhance the shape and hue of one's lips. They're not that different."

Marinette leaned really close in to Adrienne, and for a moment Adrienne was positive she was going to be subjected to ear kisses.

Then Marinette whispered, "Shut the fuck up," and Adrienne started laughing uncontrollably.

She was still laughing by the time the Gorilla pulled up to the mansion, and when she walked in hand-in-hand with Marinette, but the moment she saw her father waiting for her in the hall, she stopped.

The icy steel blue of Gabriel's eyes seemed to pierce through her as she slowly led Marinette through the hall, not daring to look up.

She heard only one word being said. It only took one word to crush the good mood she had been in all day.

"Adrien-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the quality of this chapter slowly deteriorated as I tried to wrap it up in an acceptable way but really didn't want to so I'm SORRY okay I really wanted to finish it (also one of my friends will NOT STOP BOTHERING ME FOR UPDATES)
> 
> okay if you read the thing about the crepes and were like HOLY FUCK I was talking about street-vendor crepes, like if you walk down any street in Paris you find them and they have jam crepes and chocolate crepes and coconut Nutella crepes and they're huge like that's all you need for breakfast and it s so wonderful
> 
> I'm getting all nostalgic for Paris now but ANYWAY
> 
> the dupain-chengs probably don't have a special foot long crepe burner like professional crepe makers do but I want Adrienne to be fed so I wrote the crepes as a lot bigger than they probably would be (and yes they are folded into quarters. I didn't have a single rolled crepe in Paris. America is full of lies. do not roll crepes.)
> 
> ok I'm making myself hungry I'm going to shut up about crepes and get to the IMPORTANT part
> 
> Adrienne and Mari are never going to fuck. Not ever. They're probably both going to be perpetual virgins, but it'll be their choice. Every time there is a reference to Adrienne and Mari fucking, it is a joke. They are not going to do the do. (sorry to disappoint but I don't want to write sex scenes; i know at least 2 thirteen-year-olds who are keeping tabs on this and reading it so that's uncalled for)
> 
> thanks for reading anyway and putting up with the disproportionately long notes ranting on about crepes (ily if you're still reading this far)


	9. Counting Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Agreste gets roasted, and Marinette and Adrienne stargaze together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I accidentally found a reference for French customs and as it turns out, I was wrong about a lot of things such as Adri's and Mari's supposed age and the norm for kissing/dating so just pretend I didn't and I'm right about everything 
> 
> also we're almost to 1k views! MUCH EXCITE TY (not very much compared to, say, Ashley's fic or any other really good fic but) it means a lot to me and thank you for reading! love you guys

"Adrien-"

Adrienne visibly cringed backwards. Marinette protectively placed her hands on Adrienne's shoulders.

"Don't you dare call her that name," Marinette hissed.

"It's okay, Mari."

"Tell me, Adrien, just what do you hope to gain by wearing that ridiculous makeup and clothing?"

Marinette scoffed. "'Ridiculous?' I'll have you know that I designed that outfit myself, and with good taste."

"It is not clothing fit for a boy."

"That's good, because she's not a boy."

"Mari, please. This never gets anywhere. Believe me, I've tried." The pain and weariness weighed down Adrienne's statement noticeably.

"It just feels... wrong," Marinette muttered under her breath. "I don't know. I just..." She clenched her fist.

"I don't want to speak to you until you're wearing something a little more reasonable," Gabriel announced condescendingly to Adrienne. "Go."

"I'ma slap a bitch," Marinette growled. "Are you serious? This is what you live with every day?"

"One gets used to it. Come on, Mari."

It took a considerable amount of dragging to even get Marinette to move an inch, and after that, she wouldn't budge. Adrienne sighed and wished Marinette wasn't so very strong.

"I'm not moving," Marinette hissed. 

"He didn't even do anything. Kind of. Let's not make a big deal out of it."

"Too late. Adri, you're too much of a sweet cinnamon roll child to do anything, so I'm taking this into my own hands." Marinette adjusted her sleeves.

"Come on, you're even more of a sweet cinnamon roll child than I am."

"No, no, no. I am the one who looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you."

"Did I miss something? Is that a reference?"

"Just- let me handle this." Marinette cracked her knuckles loudly and faced Mr. Agreste. "Dude, I swear, what did she ever do to you? Did she murder everyone you know and love or something? For the love of God, what is so wrong with dressing the way she does? I dress like that. And look at me! My entire class thinks I'm attractive! Heck, the entire class thinks she's attractive too!"

"They do?" Adrienne asked, with disproportionate surprise. The girl was a supermodel, for heaven's sake.

"If you cast your mind back to about six chapters ago, you may remember that the entirety of the class finds Chat Noire hot," Marinette reminded. "Except you."

"Are you implying, Mademoiselle, that my son is Chat Noire?" Mr. Agreste's tone was cold.

Adrienne's pupils contracted, her face paled, and she took a few steps back. "Oh, fuck," she murmured.

"Sorry," Marinette whispered.

"The repercussions for this will be severe. I know that Akuma attacks coincide with school hours often. Have you been skipping school in order to mess around and pretend like you're saving the city and whatnot?"

"'Pretending?'" Adrienne demanded, a note of hostility entering her voice. "If it weren't for Ladybug and me, Papillon would have destroyed the city long ago. He would've destroyed the world long ago!"

"Hardly!" Mr. Agreste snapped. "Destroying Paris has never been my objective! It's been only to get your Miraculouses, which requires nothing more than an upset civilian, and no bashing in of cities!"

"Your... your objective?" Marinette queried in confusion.

"Yes, as-" Adrienne's dad quickly realized his mistake and pressed his mouth shut. "That is to say-"

"You're Papillon," Marinette said in amazement. "You're the one spreading hate and misery throughout this city, trying to steal our Miraculouses for your own benefit."

Adrienne could say nothing for a lengthy amount of time, but when she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "That... it makes sense now."

Marinette glanced over. "What makes sense?"

Adrienne turned to Marinette. "I haven't told you this, but the real conflict between... me and him-" Adrienne gestured vaguely towards her father- "started after Mom died. Dad was distant. He barely spoke to me. I missed her too, but... it seemed to take an entirely other toll on him. He was listless for a while. He stopped designing stuff, and whenever he did, which was rarely, it was always kind of depressing. You know, blacks and grays, and they were always advertised with gloomy blue lighting. It just so happened that the day Papillon first announced himself to Paris, September 1st, was the day my dad started acting normally again. It was... really weird. It was like he was a new person or something, and while he was still a horrible father, he seemed more... present. I don't know. Like I said, it was really weird. I wondered what could've possibly caused such a drastic change in behavior, but since I was caught up in going to real school at the time, and becoming Chat Noire, I didn't really look into it much further." Adrienne stared into Mr. Agreste's eyes briefly. "Now I know."

"Very astute," Mr. Agreste jeered mockingly. "I have nothing other to say on the matter, actually; you are correct."

"Why?" Adrienne begged. "Marinette's right. What could possibly make you want to cause so much strife?"

"Isn't it obvious? I believe it's your dearest wish, as well." Mr. Agreste clenched his fist. "I wanted your mother back."

The room was quiet for a good minute or so.

"Father..." Adrienne paused, and sighed. "I'm sorry. Okay? I know you loved her. I loved her too. She was... the most important person..." Adrienne's eyes glistened. "...in my life. But... I moved on. I accepted that sometimes, people die, and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to keep going and try to live up to her memory. You know why I agreed to do all  
those extracurricular activities, and strived to get good grades? I did it for her. I didn't want to. I know she would've wanted me to. And that's what pushed me to keep going."

"I don't need your advice," Mr. Agreste scowled. 

"If you think a reasonable solution to the loss of a loved one is to steal a magical stone and feed off people's misery and disappointment, then clearly you do!" Marinette yelled, cutting in. "That's not how you get over it!"

"Mari-"

"Listen, Mr. Agreste," Marinette ordered, ignoring Adrienne. "Do you see this girl? She is the single bravest girl I have ever met. She has gone through so much without complaining or protesting. Just to gain a little freedom, she put up with being called 'he' and 'him' and 'his-' I'm not transgender, but I can well imagine how horrible it must feel." She glanced over quickly to Adrienne. "Well, I can't, I can't possibly imagine how horrible it must be, but the sentiment is still there."

Adrienne nodded once, smiling.

"And- and she never slipped up once. She never yelled at us once. She kept her head low and put up with it, because it was her only chance at socializing and making new friends. She was a model student, and one of the best friends I've ever had. Again, I have to emphasize- it's probably been hell for her, being forced by- by you, to have her closest friends call her the wrong pronouns. I imagine she felt like- oh, I shouldn't put words in her mouth, but if I were her, I'd feel as if you were making me lie to my friends. And that's a horrible feeling."

Adrienne spoke quietly. "You're absolutely right."

"That's good," Marinette muttered as an aside to Adrienne, then continued to Mr. Agreste, "Do you even know how much she's done for this city? She's taken arrow after arrow for me. She's fallen asleep in glass for the sake of preservation of identity. She's- I can't even begin to name every noble feat she's ever performed, the list goes on and on and on. Instead of choosing to become a supervillain and try to provoke distress and sorrow, she became a superhero and did her best to protect everyone from monsters like you. After everything she's been through, she still chose to strive to do the right thing and kept fighting against you and your stupid Akumas. And you? You just kept trying to make everyone as sad and upset as possible, trying to steal these stupid earrings and her stupid ring just to get your wife back, which- it's selfish, okay? People die every day! Their loved ones- they don't try and bring them back to life, that's preposterous! You deal with it! That's what every other rational human being has done! Especially your own daughter!"

Mr. Agreste was silent for a moment. Then he opened his mouth and snarled, "How dare you speak to me in this manner?"

"It's not like it's not true! You're pathetic if you can't do what literally every other person on the planet has done and move on from the loss of your loved one!"

"You don't understand. She was... different. I lost the only person I cared about when she-"

"Oh, like Adrienne didn't?!" Marinette screamed. "You abandoned her and let her be taken care of your assistant! She never complained. She took it upon herself to keep doing the right thing. You? All you've done is cause problems and relish in the mess you make. You made her life hell, and you felt no remorse."

"Marinette, that's enough," Adrienne said firmly.

Marinette finally stepped back, breathing heavily. 

Adrienne cleared her throat and stated calmly, "You're wrong, you know. Getting Mom back- it's not the thing I want the most."

A pause, nearly tangible through all the tension, rested between them.

"There were only three things I ever really wanted." Adrienne took a deep breath and began counting on her fingers. "Number one, freedom." She glanced down at her ring and rubbed it. "With the help of my kwami, I got that. I was able to roam free through Paris whenever I wanted, since you never paid any attention as to whether I was in my room or not."

Mr. Agreste's eyes narrowed.

"Number two, a friend." She smiled to Marinette. "Once I went to school for the first time, I got that, too. I have plenty of wonderful friends, whom I feel lucky to have met."

Marinette smiled and gently clasped her hand with Adrienne's.

"And, number three..." She took a deep breath. "This was the one I've been waiting on, for months upon months and years upon years." She locked eyes with her father. "For you to stop being so goddamn transphobic."

Mr. Agreste seemed speechless as Adrienne squeezed Marinette's hand and led her out of the hall, flashing a Chat Noire-like smile as she winked sinfully.

"That was... really brave," Marinette whispered, following Adrienne into her room.

Adrienne blushed. "Well, you know... it had to be said." She sat down on her bed and patted it to indicate that Marinette should sit down next to her.

"You're right, it did," Marinette agreed, following Adrienne's suit. "I'm proud of you for having done it. I mean, I can't imagine it was easy."

"It actually kind of was. I've been wanting to say that since... as long as I can remember."

A lull in the conversation settled between them. Marinette looked out of Adrienne's floor length windows and observed the city, then smiled. "It's beautiful."

"What is?"

"The sunset. Don't you think?"

Adrienne looked over. The slowly sinking sun cast beautiful tones of peachy orange and deep crimson red, bathing the city in a summery glow. It looked surreal, like something out of a postcard or Photoshop. The clouds were painted pastel lilac, and they were strewn about carelessly over the horizon.

"Yeah," she breathed, lifting a hand as though she were to touch it.

Marinette regarded Adrienne, then smiled. "I know where we can get a better view."

Adrienne finally tore her eyes away from the sunset. "Where's that?"

Transforming soundlessly into Ladybug, she took Adrienne in her arms and sprinted across the city, footsteps as light as air. Landing with a definitive step, she deposited Adrienne on the roof of the Dupain-Cheng boulangerie/patisserie and detransformed again.

Adrienne barely seemed fazed by the spontaneity of Ladybug's actions. She reclined on the roof and gazed in rapture at the stunning portrait that had been created in the sky. Marinette did the same. Together, they wordlessly watched the sun crawl under the horizon.

Somehow, they still didn't talk for hours, and were content just to stare at the sky as it faded from cherry colored euphoria to soft black moonlit midnight, strewn with stars. It was a much more relaxing practice than either of them had imagined it to be. 

By the time that the sky had faded to complete darkness save for the stars and moon, Adrienne had seen a shooting star. Her eyes widened and she looked over at Marinette.

"Did you see that?"

"Mm."

"I've never seen one before." She turned back to the twinkling sky. "It was beautiful."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "You've never seen one?"

"No. My dad didn't like me staying up late or going outside too much." She exhaled. "I wish I'd seen one sooner." She cast her eyes skyward.

A smile was etching itself into Marinette's lips. "I wish you had, too."

Adrienne looked over once more, then mirrored Marinette's smile. "You know what?"

"What?"

"Your freckles make your face look like the sky. They look like the stars and your eyes are the sun and the moon."

Marinette, reminded of a comparable simile that Adrienne had once said, giggled. "I suppose my face is like a moonlit ocean, then?"

"What?"

"Nothing." Though she hated to admit it, Marinette had held Chat Noire's drunken words far closer to her heart than she ought to have. She still remembered them, word for word.

"My Lady... your face is like a moonlit ocean, it glitters and it's beautiful."

She wondered if Chat Noire had really meant that when she said it.

"I mean it, though. Your eyes are so pretty. They're like... celestial blue."

"Is that what you think of them as?"

"Yes."

"Your eyes are... they're a rich shade of green," Marinette remembered. "They're..." A phrase she had written not long ago popped into her head. "Tes yeux sont du vert de la chance," she decided.

"The green of luck," Adrienne agreed. "I suppose so. Which color is luckier than green, after all?"

"It's funny, isn't it? You're supposed to be bad luck, but you got the lucky green eyes."

"Mm." Adrienne gazed at Marinette contentedly. "I could look at your eyes forever." 

"I could look at yours forever, too," Marinette agreed, rolling on her side to look at Adrienne. Their faces were very close now; their noses were nearly touching each other.

"Your freckles really are pretty," Adrienne whispered, tracing the path of freckles across Marinette's face.

"Is that so?" Marinette breathed.

"Yeah."

"Hey, I have a question for you."

Adrienne's face shifted into a wry smile. "What's that?"

"Do you want to see another shooting star?"

"Y-yes?"

Marinette closed the gap between them (which wasn't all that large) and pressed her lips to Adrienne's, engaging her in a passionate kiss. Marinette had been right. Thousands upon thousands of shooting stars crossed her vision. Adrienne was blind again, only able to feel, to feel the tremors that shuddered through her body and the scorching beauty of Marinette's lips against her own. Trying not to slip away and succumb to the insistence of the stellar lullaby, she fought for her presence under Marinette's drug-like love. Persistently, the shooting stars kept flying and flying, hurtling themselves with a frenzied desire into her heart and burning up in flares. Over and over again, her body melted and reformed, oscillating between complete mental breakdown and full capacity of thought. It was ten times more intense and exhilarating than any other kiss she had ever been given. Perhaps the romantic starlight sky was to blame; perhaps it was Marinette's shameless flirting. Nothing could match this, she was sure of it.

Marinette finally pulled away softly. "There you go."

Adrienne was panting, face flushed warm even in the crisp spring-esque night air. "Thanks," she managed.

"You're welcome." Marinette winked flirtatiously. 

Adrienne was resorted to just breathing heavily and looking skyward for a moment. Once she had regained regular consciousness, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Do you know the constellations?"

"Like... Orion? And Ursa Major, and Sagittarius?"

"Yeah. I don't know any of them. Can you show them to me?"

Marinette nodded, kind of endeared, and began pointing out the different constellations that were threaded through the pitch-black universe. Leo, and Cassiopeia, and Pegasus, and countless others. By the time she had finished naming all the constellations she knew, the lights had gone out in her home. 

"It's midnight," Adrienne said, though she wasn't sure how she knew. 

"Is it?"

"I think so." She blinked once. "I can't see anything but stars anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I just want to look at them forever." A kind of innocent, childlike wonder twinkled in her eyes. "It's never been such a clear night like this before... I wonder if I'll ever be able to see them like this again." She seemed to snap out of a stupor. "What am I saying? Of course I will. I see them all the time in your eyes."

Marinette blushed. "Stop flattering me."

"But it's true," Adrienne persisted, brushing Marinette's bangs aside and staring into them. "Your eyes are brighter than any star. They're more beautiful than any star."

Instead of giving a verbal response, Marinette snuggled up to Adrienne, carefully wrapping her arms around Adrienne's waist, and granting a small smooch on the cheek. Adrienne understood her intention easily and shifted her body more comfortably accommodate Marinette. 

Marinette could feel Adrienne's heartbeat like a gentle drumbeat, providing a rhythm to lull her into peaceful slumber. Consciousness slipping, she succumbed to the allure of sleep, calling to her ever so persistently.

Adrienne was actually the one who fell asleep first. Her dreams were more vivid than she had experienced in a long time.

Everything was blurry and bright. Fuzzy around the edges. At first, the only thing she could see was white. Then, she could just barely make out a face. One that she knew she'd never forget.

"Mom," she choked.

And there she was; Mrs. Agreste, wearing a simple white dress that fell to the floor and had loose sleeves. Her hay-blond hair was done up in its usual dead-anime-mom style, curled over the shoulder. She seemed ethereal, and her face glowed supernaturally. In that moment, Adrienne understood what Marinette had meant when she had said "Tes yeux sont du vert de la chance;" the phrase described her mother's eyes perfectly. Shimmering meadow-green, they were enrapturing. 

"It's been too long," her mother said softly.

"It's been... it's been years," Adrienne responded numbly. "You've never once talked to me."

"I couldn't. I'm sorry." Mrs. Agreste smiled, her skin around her eyes crinkling. "You've grown up into such a beautiful young lady. I wish I had been there to see it."

"I wish you had, too. Dad's been awful." 

"He's just missed me. You missed me, too, ma chère. You can't blame him."

"I wasn't a complete-" Adrienne bit her lip before she swore in front of her mother. "I mean, I wasn't as bad as he was. Have you been watching, from up in heaven and stuff?"

"Every day, ma minette. I promise to you, he's trying his best to do the right thing. It's hard for him. I have to admit, I was most of his impulse control." She smiled, perhaps in remembrance of the days she had spent with Gabriel. "I suppose you could say I was the yin to his yang."

"Very nice. Cool. I still think he could've tried harder."

"I do, too," her mother sighed. "I just think you aren't giving him enough credit."

"Well, I'm not giving credit where credit isn't due, that's all."

"Oh, Adrichou..."

That nickname brought back so many memories. It had been her mother's favorite nickname for her, and though Adrienne had always protested against it, she secretly adored being called it. The reason why she hated when Chloe used the name was that she felt it were sacred to her and her mother alone, and that anyone else was ruining its sanctity.

"All I'm saying is that he could've done a better job as a parent once you were gone. He didn't exactly take it the best when you died. Also, he could've taken my identity as a girl better, too."

"I know. I wish he had been more reasonable about that. I know I wasn't always the best at seeing his flaws, but trust me, I'm well aware of that side of him." Mrs. Agreste looked down. "You know I'll love you unconditionally, don't you, ma douce?" 

"I know. And I you."

"But what I came here for is to tell you something. I think you need it right now, and I hope you'll remember it for a long time, however long you need it."

Adrienne nodded once.

"You can't wait for everyone to accept you. You can't wait to accept yourself once everyone else has accepted you. You have to validate yourself."

"But everyone has accepted me. The entire class, the entire city."

"Everyone?" A note of sadness was hidden in Mrs. Agreste's eyes. "I believe there's still one person whom you dearly want to accept you, but hasn't."

Adrienne looked down.

"But here's the thing, mon ange. He may never decide that he approves of you and your identity. But you can't let that stop you, okay? Keep being you. Keep presenting as a girl. Keep wearing makeup, keep calling yourself Adrienne. Don't allow his opinions to hinder your life. You are in control. Remember that, chouchou."

"I will," Adrienne whispered.

"Is his approval really the thing you want most?" Mrs. Agreste stroked her daughter's cheek.

"I... I guess so, yeah. It felt like the thing that was most in my control. I knew I could never have you back. But a friend, a freedom, and that... they seemed in my reach."

"Ma cocotte, do you know what? I don't believe anyone gets their greatest wish. Do you know what mine was?"

"What?"

"When you were born, I looked down at your beautiful face and I thought, 'I want be here to watch my child grow up and learn and enjoy the world.' And I didn't. I'm here now. But I enjoyed every moment with you while I had them. And you know, sometimes life has much more beautiful things in store for you than what you may want. Nothing ever goes according to plan. C'est la vie, after all." Mrs. Agreste wrung her hands. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, forge your own path in life and don't let it hinge on whether or not your father sees you the way you see yourself. The way you are. Can you do that for me, Adrichou?"

"I- yes, I can."

Her mother beamed. "Just knowing that will make me happy."

"And, Mother?"

"Yes, ma chèrie?"

"I think I have a new wish. One that I know will come true."

Mrs. Agreste seemed to be fading, her voice becoming softer and white around her becoming brighter, but Adrienne managed to hear one phrase being spoken. "Will it bring you happiness in pursuing it?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"Then I'm proud of you, mon amour. So very proud. And remember, I love you!"

As the very faint last words were being said, the whiteness overcame everything and Adrienne's eyes flung open.

She looked over to see Marinette curled up in her embrace, sleeping soundly, and smiled a little bit. She knew pursuing Marinette's love would bring her more happiness than anything else in the world.

She carefully kissed her partner's head, and watched in admiration as the sun crawled up from below the horizon, spreading magnificent colors of magenta and soft yellow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST IN CASE YOU NEEDED SOME TRANSLATIONS OF MAMAGRESTE'S PET NAMES
> 
> ma chère: my dear (feminine)  
> ma minette: my pussycat (feminine)  
> Adrichou: (canon pet name for Adrien in the French dub, used only by Chloe)- quite literally, "Adricabbage" but really more like "Adrihoney" in English, since "cabbage" is meant as a term of endearment  
> ma douce: my sweet/sweetie (feminine)  
> mon ange: my angel  
> chouchou: literally, "cabbage cabbage," but in French is a lot more endearing; very popular pet name  
> ma cocotte: my casserole (I don't have an explanation for this one other than French pet names are really weird)  
> ma chèrie: my dearie (feminine)  
> mom amour: my love
> 
> and also "c'est la vie" means "that's life" but less literally it more means something along the lines of "shit happens"
> 
> okay now for the REAL NOTES  
> ooh yes we're almost to the last chapter (get ready for ANGST my dudes)
> 
> also the last chapter will be the longest by a long shot so please be patient! it may take more than two weeks if worst comes to worst so just be prepared and do your best to stay patient (it'll be done before June 17th I promise but that's a worse case scenario)


	10. And In The End, I'd Do It All Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A montage of events through Marinette's and Adrienne's lives as they age and reach milestones together.
> 
> Also, SpongeBob references.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> v sorry about the low quality/word count of this chapter, it came as a result of a combination of lack of inspiration, deadline stress, procrastination, finals, and hell week (ಥ﹏ಥ) I really wish I could've given this more effort but it just really didn't flow as easily or write itself as easily as some of the other chapters... sorry guys BUT I will be getting a drawing tablet soon and I plan to draw Adrienne after ten years or so on estrogen so THE AUS NOT DEAD JUST THIS FIC I THINK
> 
> p.s. did really no one notice that most of the chapter titles are song lyrics? I wasn't creative enough to think of clever names so I just thought of a relevant lyric; this chapter's title is from The Kids Aren't Alright by Fall Out Boy (fire song tbh)

"M-Marinette D-Dupain-Cheng," Adrienne began, trying to maintain eye contact but failing, miserably. "Would you, um- would you like to, uh-"

Marinette smiled quizzically. "Am I going to hear your request in the next century, or...?"

"Yes, just- I'm nervous, okay?" Adrienne pleaded. "Give me a second." She took a deep breath. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you, um, would you like to-" Adrienne swallowed visibly. "go, on a- with- date- me?"

"What?"

"Willyougoonadatewithme?" she slurred, cheeks bright red.

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'm sorry! I can't-" Adrienne began to hyperventilate. "I can't do this, oh my gosh."

"Just say it," Marinette encouraged.

"I'm trying! I swear-" She bit her lip. "Marinette, will you go out with me?"

"That's what you wanted to ask?"

Adrienne nodded, heart pounding intensely.

"Of course I will," Marinette laughed. "I'd love to."

"Really?"

"Oh my gosh, you're such a dork. Yes, of course!" Marinette paused. "What do you want to do?"

Adrienne considered that. "I don't know. I didn't think I'd get this far..."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Please, don't quote Spongebob if you're trying to get me to date you."

"Sorry." Adrienne offered her hand. "Let's go to the bakery. I'll buy you a batch of petit-fours."

"Are you sure? I kind of live there."

"Positive." Adrienne blinked. "You know what? The bakery- it's my favorite place in the world."

"The entire world?"

"Yeah." Adrienne seemed a million miles away, dreaming of pastries and sugar and vanilla and the taste of Marinette's lips- all of which were synonymous.

"Allo la lune, c'est la terre," Marinette prompted. "You ready to go?"

Adrienne nodded, out of her paralysis. "Let's go." She interlaced her hands with Marinette's and squeezed it. Marinette squeezed back. 

The bakery. Adrienne's dream home. 

What she wouldn't give to live there.

Buying more pastries than she could carry, Adrienne set them all on the table and shoved most of them to Marinette's side.

Marinette frowned. "Why do I get more than you?"

"Because you're my girlfriend," Adrienne said without thinking.

Marinette choked momentarily on the tart she had bitten into. "I'm your what?" she demanded hoarsely.

"Uh- are you okay?

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she coughed. "I just..."

"If we go on a date, we are dating. No?"

"Right, yes, it's just..." Marinette seemed to search for a word, then stopped. "Wait a sec. Your logic is flawed, missy. If I am your girlfriend, then you are my girlfriend, too. So we should get equal amounts."

"But I'm taking you out."

"You're not taking me out, this is my house!"

"Bamboozled again," Adrienne sighed. "You win. I will take an equal amount."

"Ayy!" Marinette pumped her fist. "#LetAdrienneEat2k16 is a go!"

"Let me what?"

"Never mind. Have you tried the macarons? Papa makes them really well."

Recalling that Marinette had mentioned this once before, Adrienne sampled one of the confections and felt a shiver of delight as the flavor occupied her mouth. 

Adrienne let out a moan. Jesus, it was delicious.

Marinette nodded. "I know, right? I love the macarons."

"I can see why," Adrienne agreed. "Or rather, I can taste why."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but the twinkle that danced in them gave away her amusement. She took another bite of her tart, probably trying to conceal her smile.

Adrienne nearly laughed. "Mari, your lips are blue."

Marinette looked puzzled. "They're what?"

"It's a blueberry tart. Your lips are blue because you tried to bite into it while you were smiling."

"I was not smiling!"

"Yes, you were, I'm hilarious."

Marinette considered that, then seemed to get an idea. Leaning forward and giving Adrienne fuck-me eyes, she leaned across the table (somehow not touching any of the pastries laid out over it), and whispered,

"Kiss these coral blue #2 semi-gloss lips," 

as sexily as she could.

"Actually, it's coral blue #3-"

Marinette shut her girlfriend up quickly. Grabbing onto the collars which she had sewn, she bestowed a gentle, non-making-out-type-but-still-not-for-friends kiss upon Adrienne's lips.

"You taste like blueberries," Adrienne murmured after Marinette pulled away.

"What a shocker," Marinette said sarcastically.

"No, I just think it's cute, because you were so busy smiling at my intelligent jesting that you didn't think to eat your tart properly."

"So it's all your fault, then, for making me smile."

"I got a kiss out of it, so I'm not complaining."

"You silly kitty, you can have one of those anytime you want," Marinette laughed.

"In that case, may I have another, My Lady?"

"Absolutely, you may." Marinette paused, then cocked her head slightly and smirked. "Ma minette."

Adrienne prepared herself for fireworks.

 

\---------------

 

"Marinette, I gotta move out."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, for once looking down at her girlfriend, who was hunched over from running all the way to the bakery. "From... your very comfortable and million-dollar mansion?"

"Yes." She lifted her head. "I forgot that I can move out once I'm eighteen and I gotta do it, man. Plus, that mansion is..." She shuddered a little bit. "I don't like it, to say the least."

"You sure? Where are you going to go?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe with the person I've been dating for two years and who lives in a bakery?"

"Hey, now, what does a bakery have to do with anything?"

"Food," Adrienne moaned. "I need food."

"I'm getting the feeling that's your real motivation."

Adrienne pulled an April-from-Parks-and-Rec-worthy bitch face. "Of course. Certainly not that I don't want to live in the same building as the dude who prevented me from transitioning for sixteen years. And also who is a major douche."

"Right, right, okay, you've made your point. Come in for a second."

Adrienne gladly complied, urging for Plagg to hide in her jacket. Finally assuming proper posture, she strode into the bakery and nodded respectfully to Marinette's parents.

Marinette sighed. "Why do you still do that? You see them, like, every other day."

"Oh, shush."

"Always good to see you, honey," Sabine smiled.

"You as well, Madame Cheng," Adrienne replied easily.

"Ah, the woman of the hour!" Tom announced, serving Adrienne an éclair, which she accepted without hesitation. "How's it going?"

"Very well, Monsieur Dupain. And you?"

"Ah, peachy as usual. What brings you here today?"

She glanced to Marinette, who deadpanned.

"Um... well, I forgot that I'm technically allowed to leave my house now, if I want. And... I want." She lifted her hands, then dropped them. "So, now I'm here. Because, um..." She bit her lip. "Oh, God, this sounds so awful. But I was hoping that maybe..."

"You could move in?" Tom suggested.

Adrienne pressed her lips together.

Silence.

Then: "Oh, we were waiting for that!"

"You... what?"

"Tell her about what we've set up!" Sabine whispered excitedly to her daughter.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but her lips tugged at the corners. "They wanted you to move in so badly, they rearranged my room so we could share it."

Adrienne was effectively rendered speechless. 

"Also, we stocked up on your pills. I checked in with your doctor." Marinette took a bottle of estrogen tablets down from a cabinet and placed it in Adrienne's hand. "You might want to put that somewhere you'll remember it."

"Th... thanks?"

"And, one more thing- you know the project I said I was working on?"

"Yes..."

"I was making you a new wardrobe. I sewed all of it myself. Come see." Marinette ran up the stairs into her room. After a moment's pause, Adrienne followed.

She was impressed with how much work had gone into redecorating. The loft's bed had been replaced, and was now queen-sized, perfect for a couple. An extra dresser had been added, probably filled with entirely new clothes that Marinette had worked her butt off making. The modeling photos of herself pre-transition had been taken down long ago, and replaced with pictures Marinette had taken herself of Adrienne, but those were now taken down too. In their stead were numerous fashion magazine clippings, and only occasionally was Adrienne featured in them. There were now two chairs at Marinette's desk, and the sewing machine had been put to the side with the pink chair. It didn't seem all too different. It still felt like Marinette's pastel, homey style. But... for two.

"You took down those pictures of me," Adrienne noted.

"I figured you wouldn't want to see yourself every morning first thing when you woke up."

"True," she agreed. "I'm vain, but I'm not that vain." Striding over to the new dresser, she opened the drawer and gasped in delight. "Mari, they're so pretty."

Dresses and skirts and blouses and jackets and crop tops and skinny jeans and frocks and shifts and tank tops and everything else, all clearly homemade, occupied the drawers. Each was wonderfully unique and beautiful in its own way. She noticed that Marinette had kept track of which colors and patterns looked best on Adrienne and had used them in designing these articles of clothing.

"I can't believe you did that for me." She took out a skirt and held it against the leggings she was wearing. "This is such a nice pattern."

"Oh, it was nothing. You needed a new wardrobe. And honestly, it's more than worth it seeing how happy you are right now." 

Adrienne looked up and smiled, eyes twinkling in delight, then carefully folded the skirt in the drawer and tackle-hugged her girlfriend. 

"I love you. You know that, right?" she murmured.

"Love you too, Adrichou." Marinette chuckled to herself as she pulled away. "It wasn't even my idea. My parents were practically begging me to ask you. I said no, let her do it, she's bound to ask to someday soon."

"You were right. Thank you so much for doing this."

"Aw, it was the least I could do."

"The least?" Adrienne snorted. "You could've done a whole lot less." She looked up and around the room. "I'm glad that you didn't, though."

"I am, too."

"Does she like it?" Tom called up from the kitchen.

"She loves it!" Marinette yelled back.

"That's an understatement!" Adrienne added. She kissed Marinette's forehead. "God damn, I love you," she said softly. "What did I do to deserve a girlfriend like you?"

"You existed," Marinette said simply. "You are enough."

"That's so cheesy, dude."

"Oh, whatever, you dented lampshade, this is a big milestone in our relationship. I think I have a few liberties to be cheesy."

"Fair enough. Can I try out the bed?"

"Go for it."

\-----------------------------------

"Emma, this is a very important pair of earrings," Marinette declared. "They were mine, when I was fifteen, and now I think it's your turn to have them."

"But... why?" Emma asked, accepting the intricately decorated box with curiosity.

Marinette looked out the French windows, to a dark and ominous swarm of... something gathered over the city. "I... I think someone else has stolen a Miraculous, and someone needs to be there to stop them." She closed Emma's fingers over the box. "And that someone is you."

"But... Louis is older than me. Why doesn't he do it?"

"He will. I believe your mother is giving him the same talk right now." Marinette's sparkling blue eyes seemed to shift in color. "Go ahead. Open the box."

Emma tentatively lifted the lid and shut her eyes instantly as a blinding light flooded the room. Marinette looked down, knowing what was about to happen.

When the light faded, Emma's eyes widened in wonder. "Who are you?"

"My name's Tikki," the kwami introduced herself cheerfully. "And you're the next Ladybug."

Emma's face shifted from awe to surprise quickly. She looked back at her mother for confirmation. Marinette nodded.

"Like... LADYBUG Ladybug?" Emma demanded. "Like the superheroine who saved the city from Papillon a long time ago?"

"Not that long ago, sweetie," Marinette said. "I was fifteen when I became Ladybug for the first time. That's only a thirty-year difference."

"You- Ladybug- for the first-"

Tikki frowned at Marinette. "You mean you didn't ever tell her?"

Marinette shrugged. "I didn't see why it was important."

"But Ladybug's, like- the most famous superheroine- she- you?" Emma stammered.

Marinette smiled. "Me."

"And Chat Noire, who was she? Do you know?"

"Who do you think she was?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. Who did Chat Noire flirt with all the time and confess her love to?"

"Ladybug..."

"And who's Ladybug?"

"You?"

"And who am I married to?"

Comprehension washed over Emma. "Mama?"

Marinette nodded. "Mama. That's why she's talking to Louis right now. She's giving him the black cat Miraculous."

"He'll be... Chat Noir?"

"And you'll be Ladybug."

Emma stared down at the box. "But- what do I do? I don't know how to be a superhero."

"Of course you do," Tikki piped up. "Say 'transform me!"

"That's it?"

Marinette nodded again. "That's it."

Emma took a deep breath. "Tikki, transform me!"

Marinette couldn't help but to smile. The dance was ever so slightly different, and blonde hair whipped through the air instead of black, but it was still hauntingly familiar.

Emma gasped in delight. The red suit encasing her body seemed almost entirely new on her than it had been on Marinette, and it clearly caused her great joy. 

"I'm Ladybug!" she cheered, hopping up and down, inspecting every aspect of her outfit and trying out the yo-yo. 

"You certainly are," Marinette agreed. "Now all we need is a Chat Noir and it'll be just like thirty years ago."

"Hey, guess who the newest cat on the block is?" Adrienne sang from the other side of the door, and opened it. A black figure ran underneath her and darted to his sister.

"Em!" he exclaimed, jumping around and inspecting her outfit. "You're Ladybug!"

Marinette choked back a sob. Louis as Chat Noir looked startlingly like his mother; it seemed odd to see anyone else in the suit, though.

"She looks just like you," Adrienne whispered to Marinette. "It's weird. She's like you, but with my hair."

Marinette nodded. "I know what you mean. At least she won't be mistaken for me, at least."

"Well, she'd have to be mistaken for a middle-aged woman, if that were the case. So I don't think that was a worry in the first place."

Marinette blinked. "You know, you should go with her. You should be Chat Noire again. Without me. She could use your help, you know."

"First of all, I think it'd be a little weird if an adult Chat Noire and a teenaged Ladybug were working together. Especially if one happened to be the other's mother. And second, I'd never do anything without you." She placed a hand on Marinette's slightly swollen belly. "You need me here, don't you?"

"I've done this twice before," Marinette reminded.

"But I'm important."

"Will you guys stop bickering?" Louis interrupted. "What do we do now?"

Marinette kissed her children's foreheads. "Tikki and Plagg will guide you. Good luck."

"I can't do this," Louis complained, feeling his new cat ears, while Emma shoved open the window excitedly and dashed out, yelling, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

"Your sister will need you to reign her back," Marinette encouraged. "You should go now."

Louis was no stranger to needing to reign Emma back. He nodded with resolution and followed his sister out the window.

"Do you think they'll be able to do it?" Adrienne fretted.

"Well, do you?"

"Yes, but I worry. Those are our children. We just let Emma jump out a window. They could get hurt."

Marinette snorted. "Says the girl who willingly took every arrow ever fired at me, ever."

"Not all of them. Remember the guy that you dunked in ice water? I kicked that arrow."

"Your foot intercepted it. You took it for me."

"Ugh! I hate it when you're right," Adrienne groaned.

Marinette smiled. "Twenty years of marriage, you'd think that you'd be used to that by now."

"I suppose I should, but I'm still holding out on one day where I'm right and you're wrong." She blinked, seeming to remember something, and smiled. "Hey, Mari?"

"Yes, Adri?"

"I love you."

Marinette seemed disproportionately surprised at the statement, seeing as she had been married to Adrienne for twenty years and had had two-nearly-three kids with her, but she pulled Adrienne close and snuggled into her. "I love you too," she said.

"I love you more than every star in every galaxy in every universe," Adrienne breathed. "I love you more than every grain of sand on Earth. I love you more than I love anyone."

"I know. And I love you that much and more."

No more words needed to be said. Words could not come close to expressing what needed to be said. Instead, they watched with bated breath as a streak of red tailed by a dash of black zig-zagged throughout the city and chased after the darkness looming over Paris.

"I know you're still worried," Marinette murmured. "But you know they'll be okay."

"It's their first Akuma. Of course I'm still worried. You remember how our first Akuma went down." Adrienne stared at the threatening gray-black mass. "This... I have a feeling this is so much worse than a bunch of rock monsters."

"We have no choice. They'll have to do it themselves." Marinette glanced up at her wife. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life, and the kids' too."

"Then do you trust me when I say we shouldn't intervene and they'll be fine?"

"Yes, but-"

"No buts. We need to let them do this on their own."

Adrienne sighed. "Alright, then. Yes."

"They're going to be okay, you know." Marinette kissed Adrienne's cheek. "It'll all be okay."

Adrienne could only hope so as she watched with a feeling of dread the ominously swirling darkness, which attempted valiantly and persistently to swallow up everything below it. 

It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. 

It'll all be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo this was a ride... about one month and a half later here we are at ten chapters! thank you all so much for reading, and I know that while this is definitely one of the worse/smaller/unpopular fics of the fandom I'm still really happy that some of you enjoyed it! I loved writing it and I hope I inspired some of you to write your own, whether it be this au or this fandom or on this website or not. 
> 
> if it's my writing style you like (not plot or au) and you want more, I have some work on Wattpad under the user AnotherPhandomMember! I have Post-Reveal and its sequel, Post-Reveal: Volpina up on there. be warned, the chapters are a lot shorter and I personally don't think it's as well written. I think it certainly got a lot more negative feedback bc people got pissed at me for using so much French. 
> 
> if you just want some more fics to read and you assume I might have some, I do! Some popular favs of mine include You Don't Know Me by Ferisae (amazing artist, I advise checking out her tumblr) and of course, Truthful Scars by frostedpuffs (also amazing artist who has an adorable kitten and PLEASE GO CHECK OUT HER FIC ITS AMAZING). Another favorite is Rainy Days (I completely forget the author)-- I don't read a lot of fics in general but I binge-read this one in less than an hour.
> 
> Anyway, as you know, I am really sorry that this chapter couldn't have been better, but I have a lot of new projects that I'm very excited to work on-- this one got tiresome and I just felt like I HAD to write this because I promised and it's the last chapter and all that. It doesn't add a whole lot to the plot and it's just 3k words, so nothing special. Sorry to disappoint, but I hope you guys have enjoyed reading La Double Vie d'Adrienne and if I write more ML fics on here then I'll see you once they're published!
> 
> I love you guys, thanks for sticking around and reading this whole thing!
> 
> If there's anything else you want to ask me, please don't hesitate to leave a comment, I'll answer all of them! Bye!
> 
> Lots of love,
> 
> Mimi


End file.
